Dear Customers,
Due to regulatory uncertainties this past week, many third-party payment-processing companies have suspended their business with Bitcoin exchanges in China. We were also affected, and BTC China is now temporarily unable to process CNY deposits. On behalf of BTC China, I would like to express my sincere and deepest apologies for the inconvenience this has caused. We are actively seeking alternate methods to allow for CNY deposits, and we will try to re-enable this functionality as soon as possible. In the mean time, CNY withdrawals, bitcoin deposits and withdrawals are still being processed normally. There may be some slight delays during the periods of high traffic. All of our customer assets, in both CNY and bitcoin, are fully accounted for, and all funds are available.
In terms of regulation, Bitcoin exchanges are allowed in China. On December 5th, the People’s Bank of China and Five Associated Ministries issued a notice, which clearly stated, “Bitcoin trading constitutes a method of buying and selling commodities online, and people are free to participate, so long as they are willing to assume the risk.” We are happy to see that Bitcoin is now fully recognized in China, and that our core business model is fundamentally legitimate. We will continue to work with regulators to find a suitable long-term operating model for this business.
BTC China was the first Bitcoin exchange in China, and has maintained a strong reputation based on trust and reliability over the past two and a half years. On November 18th, BTC China announced the raising of USD $5 million investment from LightSpeed China Partners and LightSpeed Venture Partners. With our deep experience and strong financials, rest assured that BTC China will continue to operate for many years to come. We will continue to grow as a company, to offer our users more products and services.
Today, BTC China is proud to announce Picasso – a new secure online Bitcoin wallet service. Picasso is designed to help simplify the process of using bitcoins for new and experienced users alike. It will store your bitcoins in a secure offline storage mechanism, commonly known in the industry as cold storage. Every BTC China user can now store their bitcoins securely with Picasso and have peace of mind. Your bitcoins will always be safe at BTC China, and we hope you give Picasso a try.
Regarding our trading commissions: on September 24, to promote Bitcoin adoption in China, we announced a temporary elimination of trading commission fees. This greatly increased the volume and frequency of bitcoin trading on BTC China. It may have even contributed to the rapid rise in the value of the bitcoin in subsequent months, which received widespread media coverage worldwide. Going forward, in order to reduce speculation and price volatility, we have decided to revert to our 0.3% trading commission. We strongly believe that the regulators want to see Bitcoin develop in a more stable manner in China, without the high volatility in prices. We believe that Bitcoin can continue to thrive in China if the prices are more stabilized.
We hope that you will understand our decisions, and we ask for your continued support.
Yours Sincerely,
Bobby Lee
BTC China
CEO, Co-Founder
