China probes bitcoin exchanges amid capital flight fears

Article source
Financial Times

Chinese regulators have taken steps to ensure bitcoin is not used to facilitate capital flight, even as investors in the cryptocurrency say they doubt it is being used to transfer large amounts of cash out of China.

The apparent correlation between a depreciating renminbi and bitcoin’s price surge in recent months has prompted suspicion that the virtual asset is contributing to outflows. Bitcoin’s Chinese price rose 145 per cent in 2016, as the renminbi suffered its worst year on record, weakening 6.5 per cent. Renminbi transactions accounted for 98 per cent of global bitcoin trading volume over the past six months, according to data from bitcoinity.org. 

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