03 Dec 2013 / Bloomberg – BTC China, the nation’s largest Bitcoin exchange, has had low-level discussions with regulators seeking recognition of the digital currency that would allow it to be used to buy goods and services in the country.
The company has sought to discuss Bitcoin regulations with officials from agencies including the People’s Bank of China, the China Banking Regulatory Commission and the China Securities Regulatory Commission, BTC China Chief Executive Officer Bobby Lee said in a Nov. 29 interview in Shanghai. It’s not yet been able to arrange any high-level meetings, he said.
“They’ll ask us ‘how should you be regulated,’ and I’ll say ‘Hey, here’s what we’ve done proactively and here’s how we think you should regulate us,’” Lee said of the Shanghai-based company’s talks with regulators. Bitcoin is “not on the black list and it’s not on the white list. It’s in the gray area.”
The growth of Chinese investments in Bitcoin has come amid concerns that regulators may ban trading of the electronic currency. That was eased this month when deputy central bank governor Yi Gang was cited by the 21st Century Business Herald as saying that people were free to trade Bitcoin even as China refrains from recognizing it as a currency in the short term…… Read more
