Less than a week after a fake Chinese news report sent Bitcoin and Litecoin prices plummeting on some exchanges, there is  another similar rumor which can be found on the Internet. This unconfirmed report states that “the Chinese government would penalize any bank transacting with Bitcoin exchanges after 15th April ”  This “news” started to break around mid-morning China time on Thursday March 27th.

The reasons that are mentioned are the same old dilapidated reasons the critics of cryptocurrencies are spewing on the internet.  Some of these “aforementioned reasons” are: money laundering, crime, price volatility and investor risk.

The articles and the “journalist” view on this subject is that ONLY crypto users are susceptible to the “money laundering, crime, drugs, price volatility and investor risks”. The author thinks that those practices are just restricted to “crypto users” and thus de facto accusing everyone who uses BTC and alt coins as “potential criminals”.

It looks like some less than stellar person has written some junk/trash article to boost sales of a newspaper or to gain a bit more followers. Just a heads up :  all “criminal activities and risks” that the critics say about crypto can be found in the real world. The difference is that that information about white collar crime etc doesn’t reach the general public or that certain media corporations want to downplay or are just being told not to publish this or that about said corrupt official/bank etc.

Does that mean there haven’t been any warnings issued? Of course there have been warnings but never sanctions. People should know by now that everything about crypto is still new and thus most countries are looking to the US what they will do (yes that includes China).

Every bank in the whole world have issued warnings that dealing in crypto can have huge risks and loss of capital but you have the same risk if you buy stocks online in “controlled environments” (I mean at exchanges like NYSE ). Let us not forget that it were the banks that overstretched themselves in 2008 which created the world crisis.

So it is true that the People’s Bank of China had previously warned banks and individuals alike to stay away from Bitcoin transactions. So that said article is faction, part fact (the banks did issue warnings) and part fiction (the banks haven’t any regulatory organs in place, let alone an enforcement agency to combat or prohibit said BTC transactions or transfers). Nevertheless the Bitcoin price took a dive to $561.61 on CoinDesk’s BPI and below the $550 mark on Chinese exchanges.

Unfounded rumors. Always look for more information if the “news” seem to good or bad to be true.

When some people began to question the validity of said article and asked  China’s exchanges for an explanation, the Chinese exchanges claimed they hadn’t heard the news and tried to verify it with the PBOC itself. This search provided no information and all the claims made in that dubious article could not be verified. Furthermore Star Xu, CEO of major exchange OKCoin and Bobby Lee, CEO of BTCChina  both said that “We didn’t get any official announcement …. We haven’t seen any concrete evidence of any of this yet”. This is clearly a sign that the said report is just a fake but to what end?

Are the banks getting ready for a BTC smackdown so they can buy up btc  and other currency? Is it a dry run to see how the markets would react when those kinds of “shite”messages are flying around the internet? Is it a shrewd plan to get some control over the crypto world? The questions are endless.

Conclusion.

How to arm oneself and the community against these false reports? Here are some pointers. When in doubt do more research.  Even the “reputable sources” can make a mistake or pick something up that is not exact because the source is of dubious quality. If it sounds unbelievable it probably is. If something is to good/bad to be true, it probably is something fishy. Also keep up with the latest news. Most countries of the world look to the US and use more or less the same policies when it comes to something new. If the USD hasn’t banned BTC most likely the rest of the world will not do it either.

Furthermore penal policies hasn’t entered the critics wettest dreams yet so any reports on a penal system or prohibition is just false. Of course if country F says publicly that “ we do not accept any BTC and we will punish the people that do” then it will be the truth because it comes from the government. However even then you need to check and double check everything. Some “Journalists” have the uncanny knack to twist the words people say.

When an official says “we are thinking about legal ways to get some kind of consumer protection for btc users” some journalists will make “Taxes for BTC. Confirmation of actions against BTC consumers”. Catchy second title isn’t it? Of course people will immediately read the second title and the article. Long live the sensational writing skills of dubious journalists.

So what do we need to remember: keep an open mind, don’t be lazy and take information at face value but do some research yourself, don’t go running around the internet panicking about falsehoods. Panicking hasn’t served anyone in the past and present so it will not benefit you in the future.