Spotlight Growth
China Crypto Ban Ramps Up Crackdown
WeChat Bans Crypto Media Outlets
Medium should be attracting more Chinese crypto enthusiasts soon.
China’s app ecosystems are going through a period of scrutiny and regulatory crackdowns.
Basically, On Aug. 7, 2018, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) announced temporary regulations for the development and management of public information services for instant message tools.
It’s quite remarkable that China has not only shut down blockchain news accounts, according to the South China Morning Post, but is also banning hotels in Beijing from hosting cryptocurrency events.
China is a well-known ecosystem for blockchain startups in stealth mode, but the Government is getting even stricter. Blockchain and cryptocurrency media accounts in China have been banned on WeChat, the messenger app owned by Tencent.
The decrease of chatter is going to be good for the crypto community on Medium, one of the last places for free speech to occur for cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.
While Twitter and Reddit are good for community and influencers, the bulk of good crypto content is still found on Medium. Medium is definItely blocked by China’s Great Firewall, but that’s not stopping Chinese crypto enthusiasts from coming on here.
At least eight blockchain- and cryptocurrency-focused online media outlets — some of which raised several million dollars in venture capital — found their official public accounts on WeChat blocked on Tuesday, August 21st evening, due to violations against new regulations from China’s top internet watchdog.
Sorry crypto, you are sort of too decentralized.
It’s a really bizarre story, to be honest. Back in March, People’s Daily, the state-run media outlet in China, directly criticized blockchain and cryptocurrency media outlets in China and claimed that these media outlets were helping manipulate the cryptocurrency market.
Here in the West, Facebook banned Ads relating to crypto and their convoluted new system of checks just about kills the desire of such companies to want to earn the right to work with them again — this has been a boon for Twitter Ads related to the crypto community.
While places like India and China are cracking down, places like Malta, Taiwan and South Korea show exceptional progressiveness with regards to blockchain startups, cryptocurrency exchanges and the speed of regulatory frameworks.
China is both a censorship state and a leader in blockchain, which is a bit of an oxymoron. It’s dubious trust issues globally are also problematic for companies like Huawei, who have effectively been banned recently in Australia for being in the running for 5G.
The crypto crackdown on WeChat is pretty wide-sweeping.
According to one rule:
“The users of instant messaging tools serving in public information service activities shall abide by relevant laws and regulations. For instant messaging service users who violate the agreement, the instant messaging service provider shall take measures such as warning, restriction, suspension and closure until the account is closed, meanwhile saving the relevant records and fulfilling the obligation to report to the relevant authority.”
Hotel Ban on Crypto Events
According to the SCMP, furthermore and separately, Beijing’s central Chaoyang district issued a notice on August 17, 2018, banning hotels, office buildings and shopping malls in the area from hosting events promoting cryptocurrencies. The document was leaked online this week, and confirmed with the local authority by the South China Morning Post.
Where the People’s Daily’s commentary — typically assumed to be the voice of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) — was seen by some as the government’s call for stricter regulations on blockchain media outlets, China’s stance against cryptocurrencies but in favor of blockchain adoption by centralized authorities shows the two-faced propaganda we are seeing all over the world.
ChinaCryptocurrencyWechatBlockchainDecentralization
