PBOC governor Zhou touching on cryptocurrencies at the moment

  • Doesn't allow payment using cryptocurrencies
  • Central bank doesn't like speculative products
  • Also not in favour of products that may trigger speculation
  • Rollout of Bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies have been too fast
  • Financial products should serve the real economy and be safe
  • Future of cryptocurrency rules will depend on assessments

His comments here aren't a surprise as China has always been taking a hard line over cryptocurrencies since it gained popularity over the last year or so.

In January, they stepped up their efforts to crack down on overseas trading platforms and we're also seeing that cryptocurrency ads in China have been taken down on major social media sites/search engines.

The latter is something that Google is starting to look into as well.