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Is paper money headed for obsolescence, swept aside by the meteoric rise of Bitcoin? Is the controversial cryptocurrency the harbinger of a golden age of e-commerce, where all transactions are electronic, frictionless and not under the control of central banks? It’s not hard to come to that conclusion given some of the recent hype.

But there’s also plenty of evidence that the whole crazy phenomenon is a bubble about to pop, especially if you’ve been following developments in China.

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Earlier this week, BTC China, the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange, set off alarm bells when it announced it will no longer be accepting deposits in yuan. In other words, no new customers.

The move came two weeks after the country’s central bank declared that the virtual currency has “no real meaning” and is “not legally protected,” reportedly an effort to cool rampant speculation that had spread across the financial sector. The Bank of China also banned the country’s lenders from doing business in Bitcoin.