14 Oct 2017

China Bitcoin Ban

From This Way Up, 12:15 pm on 14 October 2017
Bitcoin

Photo: AFP

Along with bitcoin there's a heap of other cryptocurrencies on the market - from Ethereum to Waves, Z Cash, Ripples the list goes on.  Many of these new currencies are sold to consumers as initial coin offerings, or ICOs, and all you need is some software and you're ready to launch your own cryptocurrency to the world.

With more of these initial coin offerings hitting the market, and a growing appetite from investors, the Chinese government is clamping down on them, meanwhile in Japan, Bitcoins have been recognised as legal tender. 

Nathaniel Popper from the New York Times wrote the book 'Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money', and he's been tracking the rise and fall of cryptocurrencies in Asia.