News Analysis Multiple virtual currency money laundering cases have been occurring in China recently, involving vast amounts of money. Some industry insiders say this has been the mainstream way of capital flight from China for several years. The public security bureau in Tongliao City, Inner Mongolia, has recently busted a money laundering ring that used…

SACRAMENTO—Californians might be able to use cryptocurrencies to pay for groceries, rent, or driver’s license renewal as early as next year after two bills were introduced recently to make digital currency an acceptable form of payment. Last month, Sen. Sydney K. Kamlager (D-Los Angeles) introduced Senate Bill 1275, which would authorize state agencies to accept…

Chinese investors have sped up their capital outflows to other countries. Japanese regulators recently found that Chinese investors were remitting virtual currency to Japanese companies and then converting it into Japanese yen. According to The Asahi Shimbun, Japan’s National Tax Agency discovered, in the course of an investigation into corporate fund flows, that a Japanese…

China has introduced its toughest regulations over bitcoin and other virtual currencies, as all related virtual currency business activities, including “mining,” and overseas exchanges services for domestic residents, are deemed to be  “illegal.” On Sept. 24, China’s central bank issued a joint notice, with the Public Security Bureau and eight other departments, specifying that all…

China’s central bank has declared all cryptocurrency-related transactions illegal while vowing to crack down on the virtual currency market. The People’s Bank of China said in a statement, translated by CNBC, that services offering trading, order matching, token issuance, and derivatives for virtual currencies are strictly prohibited. Overseas crypto exchanges providing services in mainland China are…

Violent extremists are increasingly turning to virtual currency for fundraising, according to Canada’s financial intelligence unit. The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) issued a special bulletin Tuesday, warning that ideologically-motivated violent extremist (IMVE) groups are switching to virtual currency to raise funds after facing obstruction from online platforms. As online crowdfunding…