The Beijing Arbitration Commission has published an article clarifying that bitcoin’s use as a commodity has never been banned in
China. It explains that the Chinese authorities’ attitude toward
controlling bitcoin revolves around three areas.
China Recognizes Bitcoin as Commodity
The
Beijing Arbitration Commission published an article on the legal nature
of bitcoin in China on Thursday. The Beijing-based independent,
non-profit organization offers services in arbitration, mediation, and
other dispute resolution mechanisms.
The article was authored by
economist Wang Jin, an arbitrator for the commission. “There are still
differences in the understanding of the legal nature of bitcoin under
the current regulatory system” in China, as evidenced by a wide range of
legal disputes involving bitcoin, he began.
Wang described that
China’s current “bitcoin control policies” are mainly based on two
announcements. The first was the “Notice on Preventing Bitcoin Risks,”
issued by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and several other ministries
on Dec. 3, 2013. The second was the “Announcement on Preventing
Financing Risks of Token Issuance,” issued
on Sept. 4, 2017, by seven ministries, including the PBOC. He explained
that they reflect China’s “current attitude towards bitcoin control,”
which revolves around three aspects.
The first is that bitcoin is
not legal tender. The second is that “Bitcoin is a virtual commodity.”
Wang emphasized that China does not recognize bitcoin as “virtual
currency,” but it does “as a virtual commodity.”
The
third aspect is that some bitcoin-related activities are prohibited by
the state, such as “Token financing trading platforms shall not engage
in the exchange business between legal currency, tokens, and virtual
currencies.” Another example is that financial and non-bank payment
institutions “shall not directly or indirectly provide products or
services such as account opening, registration, trading, clearing, and
settlement for token issuance financing.” However, insurance businesses
“may include tokens and ‘virtual currency’ into the scope of insurance
liability,” Wang noted. The economist concluded:
In summary, the state does not prohibit bitcoin’s activities as virtual commodities.
He
clarified that the prohibition was for bitcoin’s use as legal tender
and some specific activities, such as those mentioned above.
What do you think about China’s attitude toward bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below.
source link : https://news.bitcoin.com/china-never-banned-bitcoin-commodity-beijing-arbitration-commission/
