Tom’s Hardware - The People's Bank of China Made All Crypto-Related Transactions Illegal
 
“Financial institutions can no longer have any involvement with Bitcoin, Ether, and other cryptocurrencies
 
China has finally expanded its crypto-crackdown outside the mining industry. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) today declared that all transactions involving virtual currencies—with one major exception that we'll discuss in a little bit—are illegal.
 
The PBOC said when it issued new crypto-related rules in June that ‘virtual currency trading speculation activities disrupt the normal economic and financial order, breed the risk of illegal and criminal activities such as illegal cross-border asset transfer and money laundering, and seriously infringe on the property safety of the people.’
 
However, much of the Chinese government's attention went to cryptocurrency mining operations, which have been outlawed in provinces throughout the country. But now it seems the PBOC is finishing what it started three months ago, with the regulator issuing an extensive statement that reads in part:
 
‘Virtual currency does not have the same legal status as legal currency. Virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, Ether, and [Tether] have the main characteristics of being issued by non-monetary authorities, using encryption technology and distributed accounts or similar technologies, and exist in digital form. They are not legal and should not and cannot be used as currency in the market.’
 
It also said that ‘virtual currency-related business activities are illegal financial activities,’ that ‘the provision of services by overseas virtual currency exchanges to Chinese residents through the Internet is also an illegal financial activity,’ and that ‘there are legal risks involved in virtual currency investment transactions.’
 
The statement also repeatedly mentions the PBOC's intention to collaborate with other Chinese regulators and law enforcement agencies to ‘severely crack down’ on illegal activities, financial and otherwise, related to virtual currencies. It also wants to restrict access to online information regarding the use of those currencies.
 
But it's worth noting that not every virtual currency will be affected by the PBOC's new restrictions. There is one major exception: the digital yuan known as e-CNY. These new restrictions mean e-CNY won't have any true competition, whether it's from cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoins like Tether, within China.
 
Promoting the state-backed virtual currency hasn't been the official motivation for cracking down on cryptocurrencies, of course. Instead, China's leaders have repeatedly said that environmental concerns led them to shut down mining operations and, in the PBOC's case, that cryptocurrencies undermine the country's financial structure.”
 
My thoughts:  This should not be a surprise to anyone.  The first crackdown was a warning, now the only legal cryptocurrency is the e-CNY.
 
Another excerpt about this:
 
“Researchers recently estimated that China accounts for more than 75% of Bitcoin's hashing power or calculations, fueled by China's access to hardware and cheap power. The Wall Street Journal noted that the mining is bolstered by hydropower centers in Sichuan and Yunnan as well as coal from Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia.”  (Source:  zdnet - chinese-government-declares-all-cryptocurrency-transactions-illegal/

This should remove a lot of GPU demand in China for mining rigs. 

rjohnson11
This should remove a lot of GPU demand in China for mining rigs. 

You still have the industrial level mining sites in Vietnam, Canada, Ukraine, Georgia, Russia, etc., as well as smaller players around the world.  So, there is till a lot of demand out there for ASIC and GPUs.
 
But with the PRC miners out of the picture, it can only help.

z999z3mystorys
I do wonder how much of a crypto black market will start to appear there, or how many resources will be used to enforce that law.

China does have a lot of control over internet access. I am sure they could find miners with very little effort if they wanted to and they should be able to track the money made. As for other countries I am sure that mining will exist but you take our China and the value will drop a lot.

z999z3mystorys
I do wonder how much of a crypto black market will start to appear there, or how many resources will be used to enforce that law.

Probably not much as the penalties would not be conducive to good health.  They have all the resources they need to enforce this.