The Chinese microblogging service Weibo has blocked at least 12 accounts belonging to cryptocurrency influencers. The service accused the account holders of violating its community guidelines, as well as “relevant laws and regulations”, writes South China Morning Post.
“The account I had been using for many years disappeared suddenly. But I accepted it. Sooner or later that day had to come,” wrote one of the banned users under the alias Professor Hash.
According to journalist Colin Wu, media and social networks like Weibo are under the purview of the Propaganda Department ЦК КПК. He noted that official media have launched a “collective attack” on Bitcoin, so the ban on cryptocurrency-related content is persistent.
Chinese social media and media are managed by the Propaganda Department. As for cracking down on Bitcoin transactions, the official media are attacking collectively. Therefore, the current ban on social media accounts and content involving cryptocurrency is continuous.
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) June 5, 2021
Wu estimated the total number of followers of the blocked accounts at more than 5 million. He stressed that their influence on Chinese retail investors may be no less than Elon Musk.
The total number of fans of these people is more than 5 million, and their influence on Chinese retail investors may not be less than Musk. The accounts blocked by the Chinese government are mainly recommending investment and trading crypto to retail investors. https://t.co/RMF2xFcNJy
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) June 5, 2021
In an interview with The Guardian, Winston Ha, an adjunct professor at the NYU School of Law, explained that this is yet another step by China aimed at curbing cryptocurrency trading. He expects that in the near future the Supreme People’s Court of China will extend criminal law to mining and speculation in digital assets.
“The government clearly signals that no Chinese version of Elon Musk can exist on the country’s cryptocurrency market,” Ha added.
ChainAudit also expects that within three months a judicial interpretation of crypto-related activity will appear in China. Specifically, the activity of over-the-counter brokers, exchanges, miners and organizers ICO will be treated as commercial crimes, the organisation said.
Wu also drew attention to remarks by Chen Weigan, the inspector for supervision of key financial institutions at the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission. He stated that the ban on mining and cryptocurrency is permanent.
A Chinese financial regulatory official said: This is a complete ban on cryptocurrency. (But he is not the main official in charge, and may only represent his personal opinion) https://t.co/6ouPKNqCea
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) June 6, 2021
Weigan regards Bitcoin as a financial bubble and advocates a ban on crypto-related activity. According to Wu, he is not the head of the regulator, and therefore can express only personal opinions.
As a reminder, in March 2021 Weibo blocked the accounts of Bitcoin exchanges Huobi, OKEx, Binance and MXC. The reason given was violations of community guidelines. The platform did not specify what exactly was involved.
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