Notice on supervision of virtual currency in China
On June 28, 2009, the Ministry of culture and the Ministry of Commerce jointly issued the "notice on strengthening the management of virtual currency in online games", which made it clear that virtual currency is expressed in the form of prepaid recharge card, prepaid amount or points of online games, but does not include game props obtained in game activities; Virtual currency shall not be used to pay for, purchase physical procts or exchange for any procts and services of other enterprises< The following is the full text of the Circular of the Ministry of culture and the Ministry of Commerce:
the Circular of the Ministry of culture and the Ministry of Commerce on strengthening the management of virtual currency in online games
the cultural departments (bureaus) and commercial departments (bureaus) of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government, the Cultural Bureau and commercial bureau of Xinjiang proction and Construction Corps, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Cultural market administrative law enforcement corps:
with the rapid development of online games, online game virtual currency is widely used in online game business services. The virtual currency of online games not only promotes the development of online game instry, but also brings new economic and social problems. Mainly reflected in: first, the lack of protection of user rights and interests; Second, market behavior lacks supervision; Third, the online game virtual currency in the use of disputes
in order to standardize the operation order of online game market, according to the spirit of Interim Provisions on Internet culture management, notice on Further Strengthening the management of Internet cafes and online games (Wen Shi Fa [2007] No. 10) and notice on standardizing the operation order of online games and banning the use of online game gambling (Gong Tong Zi [2007] No. 3), etc, With the consent of the people's Bank of China and other departments, the notice on strengthening the management of virtual currency of online games is as follows
in the era of material abundance, money can buy what you want and enrich your life. Therefore, people have a dream of realizing wealth freedom and entering a better life there are many such dreams, which are often used. With the development of the Internet, online transactions have become more convenient and fast, people's financial management ideas have improved, and they will take spare money to invest, but the bank interest is low, the fund will not choose, and the stock water is too deep. Generally speaking, the income can't tempt greedy people
1. It is illegal to have a financial trading platform that is not recognized by China Securities Regulatory Commission and China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission. With the concept of blockchain being put forward, virtual currency has become popular. In China, there are bitcoin, Leyte coin, Ruitai coin, etc. the income of these virtual currencies has been blown to be amazing. People who listen to these virtual currencies will be envious and have new illusions. They don't know that this is just a Ponzi scheme, and the virtual currency trading platform will trick investors into inviting them, After the investors' funds are cheated, there will be a series of figures. Some of them will fall sharply as soon as they buy, and smart people can stop losses. Some of them will go up sharply when they buy, and investors will continue to add chips, and finally they can't cash out
in view of the possible risks of virtual currency, many international organizations and central banks have responded publicly to the supervision of virtual currency system. These responses can be roughly divided into four categories: warning and risk warning, supervision and registration permission, legislative norms, and explicit prohibition
(1) warning and risk warning
some central banks and regulators have issued risk warnings against the special currency and virtual currency system. The federal financial regulatory authority of Germany, the Bank of France, the central banks of the Netherlands and Belgium have issued public warnings against the possible money laundering and terrorist financing caused by the use of bitcoin. In the report released at the end of 2013, the European Banking authority (EBA) warned consumers of many risks of virtual currency, such as exchange loss, e-wallet theft, unprotected payment, price fluctuation and so on. Although Spain did not have a similar risk warning, it issued a timely information announcement related to virtual currency
(2) supervision and registration license
generally speaking, international organizations believe that the supervision of virtual currency should find a balance between risk prevention and innovation promotion. Since 2012, Sweden has required transactions related to virtual currency to be registered with financial regulators. Other countries pay attention to qualification supervision, so as to make it indirectly meet the requirements of prudential supervision. In other countries, the regulation mainly focuses on the business model of virtual currency transaction. The financial prudential regulatory authority of France regards the provision of bitcoin circulation and trading services and the act of earning funds in the process as a payment service and requires the authorization of the government. In addition, some countries focus on the intermediary institutions related to virtual currency. The German federal financial regulatory agency and Danish regulators believe that the provision of intermediary services for virtual currency needs to be authorized< (3) legislative norms
at present, some countries have proposed legislation to regulate virtual currency transactions. Canada plans to legislate to allow the government to supervise the transaction of bitcoin, and to include the transaction of more than US $10000 into the scope of suspicious supervision. The United States hopes to adjust the relevant legal structure should be compared with the development of the special currency. In order to make the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) applicable in the context of network, the financial crime enforcement network (FinCEN) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued the explanatory guidance on the behavior and subject definition of private generation, holding, distribution, trading, acceptance and transmission of virtual currency in 2013. The European central bank stressed that it should strengthen international cooperation under the existing legal framework, and regulate virtual currency from the European and global level under the existing legal framework. More countries believe that bitcoin is not a currency in circulation, has no legal status, and does not meet the definition of financial instruments, such as Finland, Sweden, Malaysia and Indonesia
(4) it is forbidden
in some countries, bitcoin related transactions are prohibited. In December 2013, the people's Bank of China banned financial institutions from trading in bitcoin, which was subsequently extended to payment service providers. The central banks of Thailand and Indonesia share the same attitude. The circulation of anonymous internet currency (including bitcoin) is prohibited by the Russian judicial inspection department as a substitute for currency. The Central Bank of Russia has earlier included the provision of bitcoin services in the scope of suspicious transaction monitoring. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has banned the issue of unregistered shares in exchange for bitcoin, and unregistered online securities trading activities in virtual currency.
virtual currency lacks supervision and is too free; Therefore, China's current virtual currency is still in a serious regulatory scope; Of course, the research on virtual currency blockchain technology is worth trying.
China's regulatory authorities have stopped the issuance and trading of virtual currency, and China's policy does not allow the issuance of any virtual currency
notice of the people's Bank of China, Ministry of instry and information technology, China Banking Regulatory Commission, China Securities Regulatory Commission and China Insurance Regulatory Commission on bitcoin risk prevention
notice on bitcoin risk prevention
recently, A kind of so-called "bitcoin" calculated by a specific computer program has attracted wide attention in the world, and some domestic institutions and indivials take the opportunity to hype bitcoin and its related procts. In order to protect the property rights and interests of the public, protect the legal tender status of RMB, prevent the risk of money laundering and maintain financial stability, in accordance with the law of the people's Republic of China on the people's Bank of China, the anti money laundering law of the people's Republic of China, the commercial bank law of the people's Republic of China, the telecommunication regulations of the people's Republic of China and other relevant laws and regulations, We hereby inform you of the following matters:
first, we should have a correct understanding of the attributes of bitcoin. Although bitcoin is called "currency", it is not a real currency because it is not issued by the monetary authority and has no legal compensation and mandatory monetary attributes. In nature, bitcoin should be a specific virtual commodity, which does not have the same legal status as currency, and can not and should not be used as currency in the market< Second, financial institutions and Payment institutions are not allowed to carry out bitcoin related business
at this stage, financial institutions and Payment institutions are not allowed to price bitcoin as a proct or service, buy or sell bitcoin as a central counterparties, underwrite bitcoin related insurance business or include bitcoin into the scope of insurance liability, Shall not directly or indirectly provide customers with other services related to bitcoin, including: providing customers with bitcoin registration, trading, clearing, settlement and other services; Accept bitcoin or use bitcoin as a payment and settlement tool; Carry out bitcoin and RMB and foreign currency exchange services; Carry out bitcoin storage, custody, mortgage and other services; Issuing financial procts related to bitcoin; Take bitcoin as the investment target of trust, fund, etc
Third, strengthen the management of bitcoin Internet sites
in accordance with the telecommunication regulations of the people's Republic of China and the measures for the administration of Internet information services, Internet sites providing bitcoin registration, trading and other services should be filed with the telecommunications regulatory agency
in accordance with the identification and punishment opinions of relevant administrative departments, the telecommunications regulatory authorities shut down illegal bitcoin Internet stations in accordance with the law< Fourth, to guard against the possible money laundering risk caused by bitcoin
all branches of the people's Bank of China should pay close attention to the trend and situation of bitcoin and other similar virtual commodities with the characteristics of anonymity and cross-border circulation convenience, carefully study and judge the money laundering risk, and study and formulate targeted preventive measures. All branches shall bring into anti money laundering supervision the institutions established according to law and providing bitcoin registration, trading and other services within their jurisdiction, and urge them to strengthen anti money laundering monitoring
Internet stations that provide bitcoin registration and transaction services should fulfill their obligations to fight money laundering, identify users' identities, and require users to register with real names, register name, ID number and other information.
all financial institutions, Payment institutions and Internet websites providing bitcoin registration, trading and other services should report to China Anti Money Laundering Monitoring and Analysis Center immediately if they find suspicious transactions related to bitcoin and other virtual commodities, and cooperate with the anti money laundering investigation activities of the people's Bank of China; If any criminal activity clues such as fraud, gambling, money laundering are found using bitcoin, they should report to the public security organ in time< All departments, financial institutions and Payment institutions should correctly use the concept of money in their daily work, and pay attention to strengthening the ecation of the public's knowledge of money, so as to have a correct understanding of money, a correct view of virtual goods and virtual money, rational investment, a reasonable control of investment risks, and a rational understanding of the concept of money The concept of maintaining the safety of their own property should be included in the content of financial knowledge popularization activities to guide the public to establish a correct concept of money and investment
all financial regulatory agencies may formulate relevant implementation rules in accordance with this circular
the Shanghai headquarters of the people's Bank of China, all branches, business management departments and central sub branches of provincial capital cities are requested to forward this circular to all local financial institutions and Payment institutions within their jurisdiction. Please report to the people's Bank of China in time any new situation or problem found ring the implementation of this circular.