Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

John McAfee Said Top Executives From the Major Bitcoin Exchanges Weren't Allowed To Leave China (wsj.com)

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the tussle-continues dept.

An anonymous reader shares a report: China's widening crackdown on bitcoin trading resulted in a travel ban of sorts for two executives from the country's largest commercial bitcoin exchanges, which regulators are closing down. From a report: On Thursday, top executives of two Chinese digital currency exchanges who were scheduled to speak at an industry conference in Hong Kong didn't show up and their sessions were canceled. The event's organizer, a bitcoin-trading firm called Bitkan, didn't provide a reason. The two executives were Lin Li, chief executive of Huobi, and Justin Pan, who the event organizer listed as being the chief operating officer of OKCoin. The two-day conference was originally supposed to be held in Beijing but its organizers last week decided to shift the venue to Hong Kong after Chinese regulators earlier this month ordered digital-currency exchanges to wind down their operations. Software pioneer and former fugitive John McAfee -- a high-profile but controversial character in the bitcoin industry -- told conference attendees on Wednesday that top executives from the major bitcoin exchanges are currently not allowed to leave China.

9 of 96 comments (clear)

  1. If John McAfee said it... by SethJohnson · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I'm sorry, but you lost me when in the headline just after:

    "John McAfee said.."

    The best use of my time and attention is to keep walking down the sidewalk when I hear the delusional rantings of a person probably off his or her meds. No eye contact. Just keep walking.

    --
    $5 / month hosted VPS on linux = awesome!
    1. Re: If John McAfee said it... by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 3, Funny

      Well, it seems that Bitcoin is used a lot for purchasing illegal drugs, and McAfee is known for shoving such things up his butt - so it's a match made in heaven.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    2. Re:If John McAfee said it... by Type44Q · · Score: 2

      Sure... yet, ironically, Mr. McAfee still has gobs more credibility than whoever the fuck you are...

    3. Re:If John McAfee said it... by SethJohnson · · Score: 2

      Clonehappy- come now. Has the public consciousness forgotten this old McAfee chestnut from last year?

      McAfee Says He Lied About iPhone Hacking Method To Get Public Attention

      Calling the man "batshit crazy" is not a criticism. He aspires to the title.

      Whether he's crazy or pretending to be crazy is a non-issue. Delusional rantings are still unworthy of our attention whether they are intentionally delusional or authentic.

      --
      $5 / month hosted VPS on linux = awesome!
  2. Is anyone really suprised? by elrous0 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Did anyone seriously think for a second that a notoriously totalitarian government was going to let an underground currency designed to bypass government authorities continue to be used in their country for long with no repercussions? Shit, even non-authoritarian governments are cracking down on Bitcoin.

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    1. Re:Is anyone really suprised? by HiThere · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Which non-authoritarian governments? Actually, which governments that currently exist are non-authoritarian? I'd believe it of Iceland, and possibly Sweden or Denmark. Maybe Holland. But those are all governments that I don't know much about. Somalia is suppose to have a non-authoritarian government, but only because it basically doesn't have one.

      This is the problem that non-state currencies have. One of the ways that states exert power is by control over the currency. They need to see a bit advantage in giving up that control before they will do so. So, e.g., Lithuanian might see their own currency as not being used much internally, with people preferring to use something else (DM? Rubles?) and say, well, BitCoin isn't any worse, so we might as well try it. But most countries see "good reasons" to discourage its use. It's probably technically illegal in the US for example, though trading stamps, customer reward points, etc. have resulted in that law not being generally enforced. They'd probably have to enforce it against a huge raft of companies if the prosecution wasn't to be defended against under the rubric of "random enforcement" (which, if I've got the term correct, actually means "targeted enforcement" which is a cause to throw out a case).

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  3. Re:High-Bullshit by JcMorin · · Score: 3, Informative

    McAfee may not be a "high-profile" character but he is involved in Bitcoin. http://lmgtfy.com/?q=john+mcaf...

  4. Re:High-Bullshit by Train0987 · · Score: 2

    No he is not involved with bitcoin. He has a penny stock shell that he's selling tons of stock in that claims to be a miner. That's it. Penny stock pump and dump scam.

  5. Re:So what's the point of Bitcoin? by ctilsie242 · · Score: 2

    With a blockchain readable to the world, and arguably the best cryptographic minds designing it? I don't think it really evades government control, as shifts power. Wallet owners may be anonymous, but their transactions are forever.

    I really would not want to be buying anything illegal with BTC.