For years now, the Chinese government has been putting bans on cryptocurrencies and trying to limit their adoption in the country. In 2021, they prohibited all cryptocurrency transactions, mining, and advertising, claiming it as “illegal and criminal.”
To add to that, in August 2022, almost 13,000 crypto-promoting social media accounts were banned on popular platforms, such as Weibo and Baidu, the country’s equivalents of Twitter and Google respectively. The reason behind this was that the Cyberspace Administration of China found them to be promoting illegal information, as they confirm in their official statement.
Not only did they ban the accounts, but they also deleted 51,000 crypto-related posts and shut down 105 crypto-related websites. China has been trying for a long time to control virtual currencies and keep them in check, saying that the ban is needed to “maintain economic, financial and social order.”
Despite the recent controlling bans, the government has started a campaign to reduce financial risks. Part of this plan includes a “digital yuan” that the government is currently working on. However, it will not be decentralized like cryptocurrencies. Instead, it will be put up in order to increase the control the government has on the financial and money sector.
Even though the government said it would continue to suppress cryptocurrencies, China is still one of the leaders in crypto mining as most of the crypto miners went underground after the bans. Some crypto companies are even moving out of the country due to uncertainty.
