A picture from times when cryptocurrencies were still legal in China: A man stands in a Bitcoin mine in Sichuan Province. Paul Ratje/For The Washington Post via Getty Images
According to The Wall Street Journal, traders are using covert methods to trade cryptocurrencies in China.
They meet at laundromats and use undercover brokers, the report said.
China has strict anti-crypto rules.
This is a machine translation of an article from our US colleagues at Business Insider. It was automatically translated and checked by an editor.
Chinese traders are resorting to a variety of covert methods to circumvent the law and trade cryptocurrencies, reports the „Wall Street Journal“.
Many meet in laundromats, coffee shops, takeaways and other public places to exchange information about crypto wallets, the report said.
Others are easily able to access crypto exchanges outside of China through virtual private networks, the report continued.
“It used to be that you would meet someone in a back alley and hand the dealer bags full of cash in return for what you wanted,” Ben Charoenwong, an assistant professor of finance at the National University of Singapore, told the newspaper. “With cryptocurrencies, you can now just walk into a coffee shop and give them a USB stick or swap wallet data. It’s much less complicated than handing over bags of cash.”
China banned crypto trading in 2021
The continued popularity of crypto trading in China shows how difficult it can be for governments to restrict it. Actually, China banned crypto trading in 2021.
Authorities in China view cryptocurrencies as tools that could disempower the state and pose a systemic risk to the financial system.
In addition to using VPNs and secret locations, Chinese cryptocurrency firms and traders have increasingly turned to Hong Kong to conduct business. However, experts don’t expect China to take inspiration from Hong Kong any time soon.
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Chinese traders make billions in crypto deals
“While there are some rumors that China may be easing its stance on cryptocurrencies, there is no sign of this so far,” Justin d’Anethan, head of institutional sales at Amber Group, told the broadcaster in March CNBC.
According to Binance, the world‘s largest crypto trading platform, Chinese traders were involved in $90 billion worth of trades in just one month last year.
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This article has been translated from English. You can do the original here read.