China's virtual currency regulations
On June 28, 2009, the Ministry of culture and the Ministry of Commerce jointly issued the "notice on strengthening the management of virtual currency in online games", which made it clear that virtual currency is expressed in the form of prepaid recharge card, prepaid amount or points of online games, but does not include game props obtained in game activities; Virtual currency shall not be used to pay for, purchase physical procts or exchange for any procts and services of other enterprises< The following is the full text of the Circular of the Ministry of culture and the Ministry of Commerce:
the Circular of the Ministry of culture and the Ministry of Commerce on strengthening the management of virtual currency in online games
the cultural departments (bureaus) and commercial departments (bureaus) of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government, the Cultural Bureau and commercial bureau of Xinjiang proction and Construction Corps, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Cultural market administrative law enforcement corps:
with the rapid development of online games, online game virtual currency is widely used in online game business services. The virtual currency of online games not only promotes the development of online game instry, but also brings new economic and social problems. Mainly reflected in: first, the lack of protection of user rights and interests; Second, market behavior lacks supervision; Third, the online game virtual currency in the use of disputes
in order to standardize the operation order of online game market, according to the spirit of Interim Provisions on Internet culture management, notice on Further Strengthening the management of Internet cafes and online games (Wen Shi Fa [2007] No. 10) and notice on standardizing the operation order of online games and banning the use of online game gambling (Gong Tong Zi [2007] No. 3), etc, With the consent of the people's Bank of China and other departments, the notice on strengthening the management of virtual currency of online games is as follows
the notice defines the nature of bitcoin, and holds that bitcoin is not issued by the monetary authority, has no monetary attributes such as legal compensation and compulsion, and is not a real currency. In terms of nature, bitcoin is a specific virtual commodity, which does not have the same legal status as currency and cannot and should not be used as currency in the market. However, bitcoin trading as a commodity trading behavior on the Internet, ordinary people have the freedom to participate at their own risk
the notice requires that at this stage, all financial institutions and Payment institutions shall not price procts or services with bitcoin, buy or sell bitcoin as a central counterparties, underwrite insurance business related to bitcoin or include bitcoin into the scope of insurance liability, and provide other bitcoin related services to customers directly or indirectly, Including: providing bitcoin registration, trading, clearing, settlement and other services for customers; Accept bitcoin or use bitcoin as a payment and settlement tool; Carry out bitcoin and RMB and foreign currency exchange services; Carry out bitcoin storage, custody, mortgage and other services; Issuing financial procts related to bitcoin; Take bitcoin as the investment target of trust, fund, etc
according to the notice, the bitcoin Internet website, as the main trading platform of bitcoin, shall be filed with the telecommunications administration according to the provisions of the Telecommunications Regulations of the people's Republic of China and the measures for the administration of Internet information services. At the same time, in view of bitcoin's high risk of money laundering and being used by criminals, the notice requires relevant institutions to perform the legal anti money laundering obligations such as customer identification and suspicious transaction report in accordance with the anti money laundering law of the people's Republic of China, so as to effectively prevent the money laundering risks related to bitcoin
in order to avoid excessive speculation of virtual commodities such as bitcoin in the name of "virtual currency" and damage the public interest and the legal tender status of RMB, the circular requires financial institutions and Payment institutions to correctly use the concept of currency in their daily work, pay attention to strengthening the ecation of the public's knowledge of currency, and correctly understand the concept of currency The concept of correctly treating virtual commodity and virtual currency, rational investment, reasonable control of investment risk, and maintenance of their own property security should be included in the content of financial knowledge popularization activities, so as to guide the public to establish a correct concept of currency and investment
in the future, the people's Bank of China will continue to pay close attention to the trend and related risks of bitcoin based on its own responsibilities End)
bitcoin home has an interpretation.
Internet currency of Internet company, QQ currency of Tencent company, q-point, voucher of Shanda company, micro currency launched by Sina (used for micro games, Sina reading, etc.), chivalrous Yuanbao (used for chivalrous road game), and silver pattern (used for bixue Qingtian game)
network virtual currency can be roughly divided into:
the first category is familiar game currency. In the era of stand-alone games, the protagonist accumulates money by knocking down the enemy, entering the gambling house to win money, and using these to buy Herbs and equipment, but it can only be used in his own game console. At that time, there was no "market" between players. Since the establishment of Internet portal and community, the realization of game networking, virtual currency has a "financial market", players can trade game currency
the second type is the special currency issued by the portal website or instant messaging service provider, which is used to purchase the services in the website. The most widely used is Tencent's q-coin, which can be used to purchase membership, QQ show and other value-added services
the third kind of virtual currency on the Internet, such as bitcoin (BTC), Wright currency (LTC), etc. bitcoin is an electronic currency proced by open-source P2P software. Some people also translate bitcoin as "bitcoin", which is a kind of network virtual currency. It is mainly used for Internet financial investment, and can also be directly used in daily life as a new currency
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strict law enforcement:
(23) enterprises engaging in online game virtual currency issuance and trading services without permission shall be investigated and dealt with by cultural administrative departments at or above the provincial level in accordance with the Interim Provisions on Internet culture management
(24) for the online game virtual currency issuing and trading service enterprises that violate the requirements of this circular, the cultural administrative department and the competent commercial department shall notify them to rectify within a time limit. Those who fail to rectify within the time limit shall be investigated and dealt with by relevant departments according to law (25) establish a coordination mechanism for the management of virtual currency in online games, and intensify the crackdown on illegal activities such as "number theft", "private service", "plug-in", illegal profits, money laundering, etc. All departments should regularly communicate, coordinate and cooperate with each other, timely report the relevant situation, and do a good job in the management of online game virtual currency within their respective responsibilities (26) the online game virtual currency issued by the online game operation enterprise shall not coincide with the name of the props in the game. The administrative provisions for props in online games shall be formulated separately by the cultural administrative department of the State Council in conjunction with relevant departmentssource: Internet virtual currency
There are two reasons for the prohibition of virtual currency trading by the state:
1. The price fluctuates violently and the consumer protection is lacking:
virtual currency is the proct of network, and the digital information flowing in the network is beyond everyone's control. The code of cyberspace is the basis of the operation of virtual currency, investors can only operate through the front-end interface, seemingly "control" the virtual currency. The operator of the virtual currency service organization may become the actual controller of the virtual currency through the control code
bitcoin and other so-called "virtual currencies" lack a clear value basis, the market is full of speculative atmosphere, the price fluctuates violently, and investors blindly follow suit, which is easy to cause capital losses
2. Evade supervision and become the "accomplice" of criminal activities:
bitcoin is popular as a payment tool in the so-called "dark web" world“ The "dark net" is full of all kinds of serious criminal activities. One of the original intentions of the invention of bitcoin is to evade regulation. It has the characteristics of anonymity and convenient cross-border flow, and has become the preferred tool of "underground economy"
the existence of bitcoin and exchanges and other instrial chains has constructed a illegal financial market for asset transfer and financing in addition to legal currency, increased the difficulty of regulatory authorities in managing financial security and stability, and promoted regulatory arbitrage and financial crimes. The risks and social security risks it brings to the financial market are far higher than its innovative value
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virtual currency transactions are not protected by law:
according to the notice on preventing bitcoin risks issued by the people's Bank of China and other departments on December 3, 2013 and the announcement on preventing financing risks of token issuance issued by seven ministries and commissions including the people's Bank of China on September 4, 2017, virtual currency is not issued by monetary authorities, It is not a real currency because it does not have the monetary attributes of legal compensation and compulsion
in terms of nature, virtual currency should be a specific virtual commodity, which does not have the same legal status as currency, and can not and should not be used as currency in the market. Although citizens' investment and trading in other virtual currencies are personal freedom, they can not be protected by law
There is no law in China to ban bitcoin, so it is not illegal to mine and earn bitcoin
it is not illegal to buy bitcoin in China. In 2013, five ministries and commissions jointly issued the bitcoin risk notice, which states that although bitcoin does not belong to legal tender and is not legally compulsory, people can freely participate in bitcoin trading activities when they voluntarily undertake risks
"notice" clearly defines the nature of bitcoin, and holds that bitcoin is not issued by the monetary authority, has no monetary attributes such as legal compensation and mandatory, and is not a real currency. In terms of nature, bitcoin is a specific virtual commodity, which does not have the same legal status as currency and cannot and should not be used as currency in the market
however, as a kind of commodity trading on the Internet, ordinary people have the freedom to participate in bitcoin trading at their own risk
the notice requires that at this stage, financial institutions and Payment institutions shall not price procts or services with bitcoin, buy or sell bitcoin as a central counterparties, underwrite insurance business related to bitcoin or include bitcoin in the scope of insurance liability, and provide other bitcoin related services to customers directly or indirectly, Including: providing bitcoin registration, trading, clearing, settlement and other services for customers; Accept bitcoin or use bitcoin as a payment and settlement tool; Carry out bitcoin and RMB and foreign currency exchange services; Carry out bitcoin storage, custody, mortgage and other services; Issuing financial procts related to bitcoin; Take bitcoin as the investment target of trust, fund, etc
in order to avoid over hype of virtual commodities such as bitcoin in the name of "virtual currency" and damage the public interest and the legal tender status of RMB, the circular requires financial institutions and Payment institutions to correctly use the concept of currency in their daily work, pay attention to strengthening the ecation of the public's knowledge of currency, and correctly understand the concept of currency The concept of correctly treating virtual commodity and virtual currency, rational investment, reasonable control of investment risk, and maintenance of their own property security should be included in the content of financial knowledge popularization activities, so as to guide the public to establish a correct concept of currency and investment
source of reference: People's website bitcoin network virtual currency
the notice clarifies the nature of bitcoin, and holds that bitcoin is not issued by the monetary authority, has no monetary attributes such as legal compensation and compulsion, and is not a real currency. In terms of nature, bitcoin is a specific virtual commodity, which does not have the same legal status as currency and cannot and should not be used as currency in the market. However, bitcoin trading as a commodity trading behavior on the Internet, ordinary people have the freedom to participate at their own risk
the notice requires that at this stage, all financial institutions and Payment institutions shall not price procts or services with bitcoin, buy or sell bitcoin as a central counterparties, underwrite insurance business related to bitcoin or include bitcoin into the scope of insurance liability, and provide other bitcoin related services to customers directly or indirectly, Including: providing bitcoin registration, trading, clearing, settlement and other services for customers; Accept bitcoin or use bitcoin as a payment and settlement tool; Carry out bitcoin and RMB and foreign currency exchange services; Carry out bitcoin storage, custody, mortgage and other services; Issuing financial procts related to bitcoin; Take bitcoin as the investment target of trust, fund, etc
according to the notice, the bitcoin Internet website, as the main trading platform of bitcoin, shall be filed with the telecommunications administration according to the provisions of the Telecommunications Regulations of the people's Republic of China and the measures for the administration of Internet information services. At the same time, in view of bitcoin's high risk of money laundering and being used by criminals, the notice requires relevant institutions to perform the legal anti money laundering obligations such as customer identification and suspicious transaction report in accordance with the anti money laundering law of the people's Republic of China, so as to effectively prevent the money laundering risks related to bitcoin
in order to avoid excessive speculation of virtual commodities such as bitcoin in the name of "virtual currency" and damage the public interest and the legal tender status of RMB, the circular requires financial institutions and Payment institutions to correctly use the concept of currency in their daily work, pay attention to strengthening the ecation of the public's knowledge of currency, and correctly understand the concept of currency The concept of correctly treating virtual commodity and virtual currency, rational investment, reasonable control of investment risk, and maintenance of their own property security should be included in the content of financial knowledge popularization activities, so as to guide the public to establish a correct concept of currency and investment
in the future, the people's Bank of China will continue to pay close attention to the trend and related risks of bitcoin based on its own responsibilities (end)