评论
打印
Already reeling from a regulatory onslaught, Bitcoin exchanges in China are braced for yet another blow from the central bank that would hit their survival.
已经受到监管打击的中国各家比特币(Bitcoin)交易所正准备承受央行的又一记重拳，央行此举可能对它们的生存构成威胁。
The People’s Bank of China is considering whether to order the country’s banks to close Bitcoin trading accounts, according to people familiar with the matter. If that goes through, it would eliminate the last big channel by which people in China can buy the virtual currency.
知情人士称，中国央行(PBoC)正考虑是否下令国内银行关闭比特币交易账户。如果央行真的迈出这一步，那将取缔中国人购买这种虚拟货币的最后一个大渠道。
Caixin, a local financial magazine, first reported the ban last week, saying it would come into effect by April 15. But the country’s Bitcoin exchanges say they have not yet received notices from their banks and that business continues as usual, for now.
中国财经杂志财新网(Caixin)上周率先报道这一禁令，称其将在4月15日生效。但中国几家比特币交易所表示，他们还没有从银行接到通知，眼下他们的业务照常进行。
“This would be a bad thing for the exchanges. But it is certainly within the realm of what the government is allowed to do. We are taking things one day at a time,” said Bobby Lee, chief executive of BTC China, one of the country’s top exchanges.
“这对各交易所来说将是一件坏事。但它肯定在政府可以采取行动的范围内。我们只能走一步看一步，”比特币中国(BTC China)首席执行官李启元(Bobby Lee)表示。
The price of Bitcoin in China has fallen to Rmb2,950 ($475), down 17 per cent since Thursday when the Caixin report was published. Bitcoin has fallen nearly 60 per cent from its peak in November, shortly before the Chinese authorities announced the first measure to rein in its explosive growth in China.
自财新网的报道上周四发表以来，比特币在中国的价格已下降17%，至2950元人民币（合475美元）。比特币价格在去年11月达到峰值，此后不久中国当局宣布了第一项措施，以抑制比特币在中国的爆炸性增长。目前比特币价格较峰值累计下跌近60%。
Beijing ruled in December that individuals were free to buy and sell Bitcoin at their own risk. But after deeming it to be an online product rather than a currency, the government prohibited all Chinese financial institutions from conducting any Bitcoin transactions. It also barred third-party payment providers from serving the exchanges.
北京方面在去年12月宣布，个人可以在自担风险的前提下可以自由买卖比特币。但在将其界定为一种在线产品，而非一种货币之后，政府禁止中国所有金融机构经手任何比特币交易。政府还禁止第三方支付提供商为比特币交易所提供服务。
China’s Bitcoin exchanges – many run by tech entrepreneurs who chafe against government regulations – thought they had found a way around the ban on payment providers. By accepting payment from customers directly in their corporate accounts, the exchanges filled the gap left by payment providers and allowed people to continue buying Bitcoins. The new central bank document threatens to end that, by preventing China’s Bitcoin exchanges from holding corporate bank accounts.
中国的比特币交易所——其中许多是由不满政府法规的高科技企业家运营的——曾认为，他们找到了绕过针对支付提供商的禁令的办法。通过在自己的公司账户直接接受客户付款，这些交易所填补了支付提供商留下的空白，让人们能够继续购买比特币。新的央行文件可能叫停这种做法，阻止中国的比特币交易所在银行持有公司账户。
Nevertheless, an executive with one of China’s leading Bitcoin exchanges, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he believed the new regulations were in draft stage and that they would not be as harsh as feared. He also said exchanges would still have workarounds if corporate accounts are closed.
不过，中国领先比特币交易所之一的一位要求匿名的高管表示，他相信新的规定处于起草阶段，这些规定不会像外界担心的那么苛刻。他还表示，即使公司账户被关闭，交易所还是会有对策。
The regulations to date have undercut the Bitcoin market in China, with daily transaction volumes down as much as 80 per cent from their peak.
迄今为止出台的规定已经削弱了中国的比特币市场，每日交易量从峰值下跌80%。
