
China bans new Bitcoin deposits - aronvox
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6707013a-67af-11e3-8ada-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2noKo4XIN
======
sillysaurus2
I present, for your satisfaction, my comment from two weeks ago:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6829180](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6829180)

Along with this gem:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6858258](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6858258)

In summary, I invested $11k @ $1106/coin, predicting it'd rise to $1,500.

Shazam! I've transmuted that $11k into... let's see ... $5,100.

I feel pretty ill. Thought you'd all enjoy the schadenfreude, and perhaps
learn from my example: "How to ignore Sam Altman and lose more than half your
money."

[http://blog.samaltman.com/thoughts-on-
bitcoin](http://blog.samaltman.com/thoughts-on-bitcoin)

EDIT: I'm holding onto my coins. But, now that China is strongly incentivized
_not_ to invest in Bitcoin, it's going to be a very slow climb back to $1106.
And at the end of that long road (I'd say at least several months, but what
the hell do I know, right?) I get to look forward to: "Yay. I've lost $0. I've
also gained $0."

EDIT2: Oh, nope! It just fell from $520 to $500. So, at current market prices,
my $11k is now $4,780. Of course, we've all seen bitcion dip and quickly rise
again. It's just very... interesting... to me that within the timespan of
writing a HN comment, I'm down another $320.

Yes. Interesting. That's the word. I'm _interested_. In learning from my
mistakes.

FYI, that -$5,900 was enough to pay off my car loan in its entirety, or all of
my (admittedly small, relatively speaking) credit card debt.

Oh well. I'm going to go build a product and sell it now.

EDIT3: The market rose from $500 to $540, so that means I've earned back $474!
And since my last edit was an hour ago, that must mean I'm earning $474/hr
writing HN comments in my pajamas! Why hold down a programming job when you
can write HN comments fulltime for 4x the wage? Quit tomorrow, sell everything
you own, and invest it all in bitcoin immediately!

~~~
pontifier
I anticipate your feelings being quite widespread. I only had $200 in them
after cashing out, but I've still felt terrible when the price drops. It's
rather odd. This is the first time I have ever participated in an actual
exchange market with volatility and all. I built a trading bot, and was making
a couple of dollars a day trading my 0.17 BTC. A few weeks ago I was feeling
suicidal based on not buying some a couple of years ago when it was $10. My
family has been having a rough time, and I kept thinking that I had missed my
chance to pull us out of the hole we are in.

This is a crazy and interesting time to live in, and I'm glad I'm still here
even if Bitcoin didn't make me rich.

~~~
eclipxe
U.S.A. Suicide Hotline 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Remember, it's just money.

~~~
tachion
I love when people just like that are assuming that _everything_ has to happen
in U.S.A. and that world around it doesnt exist ;)

~~~
pdx
Your comment is only valid because that's a 1-800 number. 1-800 numbers are
free to call in the USA, which is why many people have them, but their
downside is that you can't call them from outside the USA.

Upon first discovering SIP addresses and that everybody on earth could have an
email style phone number that would be free to call, I have been waiting and
waiting for the world to transition to SIP addresses instead of phone numbers.

If such a thing occurs, someday, then publishing a phone address from one
country will not be a problem. I'm sure the folks at the suicide hotline would
gladly take calls from anywhere in the world, if they could do so for free.
Sadly, as things stand now, they could publish a SIP address, but nobody would
know how to use it.

------
shadowmint
ft.com, source of all amazing paywalls.

Here's the same content from a non-paywall provider:
[http://www.scmp.com/business/banking-
finance/article/1384688...](http://www.scmp.com/business/banking-
finance/article/1384688/bitcoin-price-slump-after-beijing-bans-clearing-
services)

~~~
retube
Yeah I don't know how they get away with breaking Google's sacrosanct rule of
not sticking content behind a paywall that they make visible to Google.

~~~
gabemart
Anyone visiting from Google sees the full article with no paywall.

You can test this yourself:

[https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&c...](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CC8QqQIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2F6707013a-67af-11e3-8ada-00144feabdc0.html&ei=U3mxUpaLOY-
ShQfpioDYDg&usg=AFQjCNGw8dx8RLkD6od7_RmTI632CfZmpQ&sig2=YxY5zmippvgxXKbE1eFMlw&bvm=bv.58187178,d.ZG4)

~~~
retube
Doesn't work for me. Get the sign up prompt. It may work the first time or two
but after that....

~~~
maxerickson
That link doesn't send the right referrer for me (I also get the sign up).

If I click through from here I get a silly question and the content:

[https://www.google.com/search?q=China+bans+new+Bitcoin+depos...](https://www.google.com/search?q=China+bans+new+Bitcoin+deposits+\(ft.com\))

------
M4v3R
As far as I know they closed Chinese Yuan deposits. Bitcoin deposits or
withdrawals are NOT affected [1].

[1]
[http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1t5cfx/btcchina_clo...](http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1t5cfx/btcchina_closed_bank_deposit_as_a_way_to_deposit/)

------
skloubkov
Ouch, that market crash:
[http://markets.blockchain.info](http://markets.blockchain.info)

Here is another article: [http://www.scmp.com/business/banking-
finance/article/1384688...](http://www.scmp.com/business/banking-
finance/article/1384688/bitcoin-price-slump-after-beijing-bans-clearing-
services)

~~~
johnpowell
There was a lot of work to keep it over 500 for a bit.

------
gokhan
For serious entertainment, Bitcoin markets now are great places to try some
day trading rodeo. Instant buy/sell with lots of drama and reasonable depth.
Stick with your stop-loss strategy and it's a real adrenalin rush. I trade a
small amount up and down and even made 40% profit for the last two weeks just
by trying to catch bottoms and selling a little higher. Cheap entertainment
IMO.

~~~
locusm
Same here, done OK just watching the BTCWisdom charts with a few basic
indicators. Its good fun...

------
thkim
This move seems obvious. Bitcoin's popularity has far more negative
consequences for Chinese government (or any other government) than benefit.
Bitcoin might topple the dollar hegemony if popularized, which might be what
China wants, but central banks lose their power to control the money flow in
the system. Why would any government want that? Any money goes into Bitcoin is
essentially money gone offline right now so it reduces tax revenue and adds
noise to national statistics. Bitcoin or any other crypto-coin has real chance
of adoption only when it's sponsored by government.

~~~
SwellJoe
_" Bitcoin or any other crypto-coin has real chance of adoption only when it's
sponsored by government."_

While I agree with your assertion that governments have no reason to support
Bitcoin, I don't believe it follows that government sponsorship is necessary
for the success of Bitcoin. I suspect most people betting on Bitcoin are aware
that at some point, governments are going to act forcefully to kill Bitcoin,
and the fallout will be utterly unpredictable.

But, I don't think it's something that can be put back in the bottle. We're
crossing into uncharted waters here. Nothing like Bitcoin has ever happened
before...so, we don't know how it's going to play out. I'm bullish even with
the expectation that major world governments will collude with current
financial elites to kill Bitcoin, because I suspect there is no way they can
actually kill it.

~~~
jasonwocky
> governments are going to act forcefully to kill Bitcoin, and the fallout
> will be utterly unpredictable.

I don't think so. I think it's quite predictable that, if that happens,
Bitcoin will lose. In the sense that it will ultimately become a
cryptocurrency also-ran. Something else will probably rise to take its place
after it's been bloodied, something designed to be resistant to whatever
response the world's governments bring to bear.

~~~
SwellJoe
In the same way that peer-to-peer file sharing lost?

~~~
jasonwocky
In the same way that Napster lost. Imagine if you'd invested in that one after
the mainstream noticed it.

------
obilgic
BTCChina closed bank deposit as a way to deposit Chinese Yuan. Right now no
way to deposit CNY into the exchange:

[http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1t5cfx/btcchina_clo...](http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1t5cfx/btcchina_closed_bank_deposit_as_a_way_to_deposit/)

------
MattyRad
By "ban", I assume they mean "made illegal." The former of course being a
euphemism for the latter. A couple questions come to my mind as such.... How
will China enforce such a ban? Can China physically or technologically bar
access to Bitcoin deposits?

Regardless of the Chinese government's ability to effectively enforce such a
ban, the price of Bitcoin has begun another wild (and fascinating) price
fluctuation period.

------
ck2
If your digital currency relies on governments accepting a competing currency
their own currency - you are going to have a bad time.

------
omegant
Now with this temporary crash what will happen to the farms that heavily
invested in ASICS, and that with difficulty will be mining at a loss in weeks?
(honest question)

~~~
gokhan
What makes you say temporary?

~~~
omegant
I guess that bitcoin´s price will continue to rise steadily and reach 1000$
again in some time. Maybe years, maybe months, I don´t know.

------
fragsworth
I see no article text here...

~~~
rahimnathwani
Try searching Google for
[http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/6707013a-67af-11e3-8ada-00144...](http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/6707013a-67af-11e3-8ada-00144feabdc0.html)

If you click through from Google, you will probably see the article text.

------
Mchl
An article behind paywall? I'm sorry but I'm disappointed

------
DustinCalim
Yes, Bitcoin dropped 40% today- but keep in mind that on any average day it
swings 20%.

If you invest because you believe in the underlying technology, you'll have to
ride out the volatility waves until it matures(or dies).

But, it's going to take more than people holding onto their bitcoins and
waiting for the value to go up- people need to spend them on things for it to
work.

~~~
haakon
20% swings over the course of a day is not at all average, and is in fact seen
as quite dramatical.

------
xfour
Well now, let's hope after all this we can find a stable price, so people can
actually use this stuff as a mechanism for transferring money, though I
suppose with this China crackdown it's losing some of that appeal even. I
guess we're stuck with Western Union forever, nice pivot btw. Telegrams were
pretty cool though.

~~~
seanmcdirmid
You do know that RMB is not fully convertible right? This is just the
government cracking down on a forex loophole; you can still buy bitcoin in
China with your $50K/year USD exchange limit (available to all Chinese
citizens, foreigners with tax receipts). Of course, you have to take a hit on
forex now.

------
aabalkan
Why are you even posting a news site requires paid subscription? I cannot read
this article!

~~~
gabemart
[https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&c...](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CC8QqQIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2F6707013a-67af-11e3-8ada-00144feabdc0.html&ei=U3mxUpaLOY-
ShQfpioDYDg&usg=AFQjCNGw8dx8RLkD6od7_RmTI632CfZmpQ&sig2=YxY5zmippvgxXKbE1eFMlw&bvm=bv.58187178,d.ZG4)

------
wtpiu
Am I the only one whose link has "Authorized=false.html?"...?

Can't get to the article...

------
userulluipeste
The Chinese are just against the trend of leaking Yuan's value to Bitcoin
(hence the RMB->BTC restriction), not against the Bitcoin itself. People are
still free to bring value in China through Bitcoin! ;)

------
dil8
Bitcoin is a threat to the Chinese government's control over the populace so
it's not surprising to see this...

------
lucb1e
Cannot read article. Paywall.

------
bitmania
Check the latest update at
[http://www.cryptocurrencylive.com/](http://www.cryptocurrencylive.com/)

