Slashdot Mirror
Bitcoin Slides as China's Central Bank Launches Checks On Exchanges (reuters.com)
An anonymous reader shares a Reuters report: China's central bank launched spot checks on leading bitcoin exchanges in Beijing and Shanghai, ratcheting up pressure on potential capital outflows and knocking the price of the cryptocurrency down more than 12 percent against the dollar. The People's Bank of China said its probe of bitcoin exchanges BTCC, Huobi and OKCoin was to look into a range of possible rule violations, including market manipulation, money laundering and unauthorized financing. It did not say if any violations had been found. Chinese authorities have stepped up efforts to stem capital outflows and relieve pressure on the yuan. While the yuan lost more than 6.5 percent against the dollar last year, its worst performance since 1994, the bitcoin price has soared to near-record highs.
>The People's Bank of China said its probe of bitcoin exchanges BTCC, Huobi and OKCoin was to look into a range of possible rule violations, including market manipulation, money laundering and unauthorized financing.
Wait, the price of Bitcoin was pumped by Chinese fraud? If only this had been known earlier! If only we'd noticed that every selling point of Bitcoin has actually been thoroughly debunked, that every major player in Bitcoin has been caught stealing or has failed (or both). If only we'd notice that blockchains have fundamental flaws that make them useless on any decent scale.
Oh, wait, pretty much everyone did know, but the scammers and fools yelled a lot louder and more frequently in their efforts to draw in new suckers so they could cash out.