China's ban on Bitcoin is only temporary, according to researcher
China's recent banning on Bitcoin is apparently a temporary one. The exchange will be resumed once local regulators introduce regulatory frameworks and policies for the currency.
A report from local media Caixin last week said China was planning to shut down the internet currency completely as part of the country's ban on creating and selling digital currencies to investors for projects.
The currency took a big hit as Bitcoin is currently down by 7.7 percent. Other e-currencies such as Ethereum also plummeted.
The damage is worse in the Chinese market as Bitcoin is down 13.4 percent while Ethereum is down 18.4 percent.
A committee has been set up and made a list of 60 exchanges that will be inspected. Details were not revealed on exchanges under inspection, but two of China's largest ICO platforms, ICOage and ICO.info, shut down their services. They, however, said it was a voluntary move.
Institute of Finance and Banking researcher Hu Bing, in an interview with local channel CCTV-13, however, said the ban is only temporary.
He said the Chinese government is actually studying the potential of allowing ICO to flourish in the country in a controlled environment through a licensing program.
Should China legalize and regulate its ICO market, it will be similar to the BitLicense program of the New York State Department of Financial Services which requires companies to get a state license in order to operate.
Strict policies imposed by NYSDF and the BitLicense program, however, prompted startups to leave New York.
Bitcoin was introduced in 2009 and was called the first decentralized digital currency in the world. It was invented by an unknown programmer under the name Satoshi Nakamoto.
The currency was criticized for a number of issues such as being used for online black markets, malware stealing, theft and a Ponzi scheme in 2013.