中國打擊比特幣努力效果有限

Chinese investors are still trading bitcoin and buying initial coin offerings, suggesting that authorities in Beijing are struggling to clamp down on cryptocurrencies just weeks after announcing that public exchanges would be shut down.

中國投資者依然在交易比特幣和買入“首次代幣發(fā)行”(Initial Coin Offerings，簡稱ICO)銷售的代幣，這似乎表明，在宣布要關閉比特幣交易所數(shù)周后，北京方面打擊加密貨幣的努力難以奏效。

Observers feared the closure of Chinese exchanges would lead to a sharp drop in demand for bitcoin, given China has been a key source of demand.

觀察人士曾擔心，關閉中國境內比特幣交易所將導致對比特幣的需求急劇下降，因為中國一直是比特幣需求的一大來源。

Instead, more of the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies has gravitated towards the private over-the-counter market.

結果，更多的加密貨幣買賣轉向私人場外交易市場。

Bitcoin, the best known cryptocurrency, has set a series of records in recent weeks. At the same time, the renminbi share of OTC bitcoin trading has risen from about 5 per cent at the beginning of September, before exchanges were shut, to about 20 per cent a month later, according to data cited in a report by the National Committee of Experts on Internet Financial Security, a government-backed research group.

最知名的加密貨幣比特幣近幾周創(chuàng)下了一系列紀錄。與此同時，根據(jù)政府背景的研究機構國家互聯(lián)網(wǎng)金融安全技術專家委員會(National Committee of Experts on Internet Financial Security)的一份報告援引的數(shù)據(jù)，比特幣場外交易中人民幣交易的份額已從9月初比特幣交易所被關閉前的5%，升至一個月后的大約20%。

“The situation with China’s exchanges has pushed more of its trading over the counter, where there is a fairly robust and liquid market,” said John Riggins, head of Asia operations for BTC Media, a fintech information platform.

“中國比特幣交易所的處境把更多交易推向場外交易，那里有一個相當有活力和流動性的市場，”金融科技信息平臺BTC Media亞洲業(yè)務主管約翰•里金斯(John Riggins)說。

Chinese investors are also using mobile messaging platforms to connect, negotiating bilateral trades without the help of an exchange. Many OTC bitcoin deals originally used WeChat, Tencent’s mobile messaging service, but concern about surveillance has driven many traders to Telegram, an encrypted platform that boasts greater security.

中國投資者還使用移動消息平臺進行交流，在無需任何交易所幫助的情況下協(xié)商雙邊交易。很多比特幣場外交易最初使用騰訊(Tencent)的移動消息服務微信(WeChat)完成，但對監(jiān)視的擔憂促使很多交易者轉向安全性更高的加密平臺Telegram。

However, the clampdown is proving more challenging for bitcoin miners, who had flocked to China’s hinterland in Gansu and Inner Mongolia, where cheap electricity can power rows of computers creating bitcoin.

然而，打擊比特幣的行動被證明對比特幣礦工更具挑戰(zhàn)性，此前這些人涌入中國內陸的甘肅和內蒙古，那里的廉價電力能夠為產生比特幣的成排的電腦供電。

China’s OTC market is not yet liquid enough to allow bitcoin miners to facilitate the sale of hundreds of thousands of dollars of newly minted bitcoin each day, market observers say.

市場觀察人士說，中國的比特幣場外交易市場的流動性還不夠高，無法讓比特幣礦工每天銷售價值數(shù)十萬美元的新生比特幣。

“There are a lot of questions about the future of the Chinese miners, given that they still need to pay for staff and operations in renminbi,” said Thomas Glucksman, head of marketing for Gatecoin, a bitcoin exchange and ICO underwriter in Hong Kong.

“中國比特幣礦工的未來面臨很多問題，因為他們依然需要用人民幣支付員工薪資和運營費用，”香港比特幣交易所和首次代幣發(fā)行承銷商Gatecoin的市場營銷主管托馬斯•格拉克斯曼(Thomas Glucksman)說。

ICOs are still being marketed, though the obstacles facing Chinese investors wanting to take part are now larger. In principle, those who already own bitcoin or ethereum, a rival cryptocurrency, can still buy into an ICO on a foreign platform. But many overseas ICO platforms have strengthened know-your-client requirements to avoid running afoul of mainland regulators.

ICO仍在被營銷，盡管想要參與的中國投資者現(xiàn)在面臨更大的障礙。原則上，已經(jīng)擁有比特幣或者與其競爭的加密貨幣“以太坊”(Ethereum)的人依然可以在境外平臺上操作ICO買入。但很多境外ICO平臺加強了對用戶身份信息的要求，以避免與中國內地監(jiān)管機構發(fā)生沖突。

Additional reporting by Yizhen Jia

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