中国打击比特币努力效果有限

Chinese investors are still trading bitcoin and buying initial coin offerings, suggesting that authorities in Beijing are struggling to clamp down on cryptocurrencies just weeks after announcing that public exchanges would be shut down.

中国投资者依然在交易比特币和买入“首次代币发行”(Initial Coin Offerings，简称ICO)销售的代币，这似乎表明，在宣布要关闭比特币交易所数周后，北京方面打击加密货币的努力难以奏效。

Observers feared the closure of Chinese exchanges would lead to a sharp drop in demand for bitcoin, given China has been a key source of demand.

观察人士曾担心，关闭中国境内比特币交易所将导致对比特币的需求急剧下降，因为中国一直是比特币需求的一大来源。

Instead, more of the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies has gravitated towards the private over-the-counter market.

结果，更多的加密货币买卖转向私人场外交易市场。

Bitcoin, the best known cryptocurrency, has set a series of records in recent weeks. At the same time, the renminbi share of OTC bitcoin trading has risen from about 5 per cent at the beginning of September, before exchanges were shut, to about 20 per cent a month later, according to data cited in a report by the National Committee of Experts on Internet Financial Security, a government-backed research group.

最知名的加密货币比特币近几周创下了一系列纪录。与此同时，根据政府背景的研究机构国家互联网金融安全技术专家委员会(National Committee of Experts on Internet Financial Security)的一份报告援引的数据，比特币场外交易中人民币交易的份额已从9月初比特币交易所被关闭前的5%，升至一个月后的大约20%。

“The situation with China’s exchanges has pushed more of its trading over the counter, where there is a fairly robust and liquid market,” said John Riggins, head of Asia operations for BTC Media, a fintech information platform.

“中国比特币交易所的处境把更多交易推向场外交易，那里有一个相当有活力和流动性的市场，”金融科技信息平台BTC Media亚洲业务主管约翰?里金斯(John Riggins)说。

Chinese investors are also using mobile messaging platforms to connect, negotiating bilateral trades without the help of an exchange. Many OTC bitcoin deals originally used WeChat, Tencent’s mobile messaging service, but concern about surveillance has driven many traders to Telegram, an encrypted platform that boasts greater security.

中国投资者还使用移动消息平台进行交流，在无需任何交易所帮助的情况下协商双边交易。很多比特币场外交易最初使用腾讯(Tencent)的移动消息服务微信(WeChat)完成，但对监视的担忧促使很多交易者转向安全性更高的加密平台Telegram。

However, the clampdown is proving more challenging for bitcoin miners, who had flocked to China’s hinterland in Gansu and Inner Mongolia, where cheap electricity can power rows of computers creating bitcoin.

然而，打击比特币的行动被证明对比特币矿工更具挑战性，此前这些人涌入中国内陆的甘肃和内蒙古，那里的廉价电力能够为产生比特币的成排的电脑供电。

China’s OTC market is not yet liquid enough to allow bitcoin miners to facilitate the sale of hundreds of thousands of dollars of newly minted bitcoin each day, market observers say.

市场观察人士说，中国的比特币场外交易市场的流动性还不够高，无法让比特币矿工每天销售价值数十万美元的新生比特币。

“There are a lot of questions about the future of the Chinese miners, given that they still need to pay for staff and operations in renminbi,” said Thomas Glucksman, head of marketing for Gatecoin, a bitcoin exchange and ICO underwriter in Hong Kong.

“中国比特币矿工的未来面临很多问题，因为他们依然需要用人民币支付员工薪资和运营费用，”香港比特币交易所和首次代币发行承销商Gatecoin的市场营销主管托马斯?格拉克斯曼(Thomas Glucksman)说。

ICOs are still being marketed, though the obstacles facing Chinese investors wanting to take part are now larger. In principle, those who already own bitcoin or ethereum, a rival cryptocurrency, can still buy into an ICO on a foreign platform. But many overseas ICO platforms have strengthened know-your-client requirements to avoid running afoul of mainland regulators.

ICO仍在被营销，尽管想要参与的中国投资者现在面临更大的障碍。原则上，已经拥有比特币或者与其竞争的加密货币“以太坊”(Ethereum)的人依然可以在境外平台上操作ICO买入。但很多境外ICO平台加强了对用户身份信息的要求，以避免与中国内地监管机构发生冲突。