Beijing has had enough trouble over the past couple of decades easing the Chinese currency, the renminbi, into the global market without causing fiscal upheaval. So it is not surprising that the arrival on the scene of the ephemeral “virtual currency,” the Bitcoin, has given Beijing an anxiety attack.
Following an 89-fold jump in the supposed value of the Bitcoin this year, boosted in part by demand from Chinese speculators, the People’s Bank of China has decided to step in and ban the country’s financial institutions from dealing in this funny money. The bank said the ban on the virtual currency is to avoid Bitcoin being used for “reckless speculation,” money laundering, drug and gun transactions, gambling and other illegal activities.
