China has not made Bitcoin illegal, but directive from central bank severely limits its potential uses [Reuters]The value of Bitcoins, the virtual currency that has soared in recent months and made fortunes for some, plunged after China banned its banks from providing related services and products.Prices on BTC China, the country's biggest Bitcoin trading platform --which had stood at more than 7,000 yuan (around $1,100) each -- plunged by more than a third to an intra-day low of 4,523.12 yuan.The drop wiped more than $5 billion off the total value of the 12 million-odd Bitcoins currently in circulation.They later recovered to trade at around 5,700 yuan each."Bitcoin is a certain virtual commodity, does not possess the same legal status as currency and cannot and should not be circulated and used in the market as such," the People's Bank of China said on Thursday in a statement issued jointly with other financial regulators.Chinese banks and other financial organisations are banned from providing bitcoin-related services and products, it said.

It called for enhanced control of online trading platforms for bitcoins to defend against the possibility of money-laundering, and pointed out investment risks faced by the public."But ordinary people, under the premise of voluntarily shouldering the risk, have the freedom to participate in bitcoin trading as a kind of buying and selling activity on the Internet," it said.Concerns have increased internationally over the money amid questions about regulation and the potential for fraud and abuse.The French central bank also warnied against the use of bitcoin on Thursday, saying it is not only volatile but unregulated by authorities."Even if the high volatility of the bitcoin is of possible interest for individual or professional speculators, they should be aware of the risks they are taking," the bank said.Source: Agencies Content on this website is for general information purposes only.Your comments are provided by your own free will and you take sole responsibility for any direct or indirect liability.

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This is an archived post.You won't be able to vote or comment.bitcoin withdraw euroCoinbase is monitoring your transactions.mr 102 bitcoin(Poorly) (self.Bitcoin)submitted by I have been a long time coinbase customer, buying 1-3 times per month, I got an e-mail today saying they are banning me from using their services because of a ToS violation.bitcoin wallet franceI e-mailed them back to ask what the violations was and they told me that they have evidence that I used some of the BTC I bought for cannabis/cannabis seeds.ethereum buy malaysiaThey gave me a specific BTC transaction and said it was for drugs and wouldn't listen to anything I had to say.bitcoin what is mh/s

This should be rather alarming, first of all, they are monitoring how you use and spend BTC which kind of defeats the entire purpose of BTC.bitcoin mining pluginSecondly, I never ever once even thought about buying drugs, let alone online, so that's pretty messed up.circle bitcoin social security/a/WMw1A π Rendered by PID 15108 on app-223 at 2017-06-24 12:49:11.288464+00:00 running 3522178 country code: SG.bitcoin usb stickSAN FRANCISCO The price of the bitcoin digital currency dropped on Wednesday, after U.S.ethereum coin contractlaw enforcement authorities shut down Silk Road, an online marketplace used to buy and sell illegal drugs.The bitcoin, valued by many for its anonymity, fell to $129 from over $140 a day before, according to a website for trading bitcoins, Mt.Gox.

Earlier, the currency traded as low as $110.Supporters say using bitcoins offers benefits including lower fraud risk and increased privacy, though critics argue the anonymity it offers makes the currency a magnet for drug transactions, money-laundering and other illegal activities.The digital currency's drop came after the FBI arrested alleged Silk Road owner Ross William Ulbricht, 29, known as "Dread Pirate Roberts," on Tuesday in San Francisco.Silk Road allowed tech-savvy sellers to post ads for drugs and other illegal products, which they sold for bitcoins and shipped to customers through the mail, according to the federal criminal charges filed against Ulbricht.As well as Silk Road shoppers, drug traffickers who worried about the FBI tracking them down with data confiscated from Ulbricht may account for some of Wednesday's bitcoin selloff, said Garth Bruen, a security expert at Internet consumer group Digital Citizens Alliance."They're going to be pouring all over his records, getting subpoenas for every piece of data and account he has ever used and trying to figure out who all these different dealers are," said Bruen.

"People are jumping ship."WhileThe charges against Ulbricht said that Silk Road generated sales of more than 9.5 million bitcoins, roughly equivalent to $1.2 billion.There are currently about 11.8 million bitcoins in circulation.With Ulbricht's arrest, authorities said they seized $3.6 million worth of bitcoins.(Reportingby Noel Randewich; Editing by Leslie Adler) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles Five London tower blocks evacuated over fire safety concerns LONDON Thousands of residents in a sprawling north London housing estate were forced to leave their apartments late on Friday after fire checks carried out in the wake of the deadly Grenfell Tower blaze found the buildings to be unsafe.China's party paper trumpets U.N.rights resolution as combating West's monopoly BEIJING The West's monopoly on rights has been dealt a blow by the United Nations' decision to adopt a China-led resolution saying development promotes human rights, an editorial in the official paper of China's ruling Communist Party said on Saturday.