Trading platforms struggle as more banks ban bitcoin in China

As more Chinese banks have moved to close bitcoin trading accounts this week, online platforms for the virtual currency's transactions are struggling to survive.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China on Thursday said it had decided to bar trading activities related to bitcoin.

The previous day, Agricultural Bank of China, China Guangfa Bank and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank all announced that they had banned customers from using accounts to trade bitcoin.

Announcements posted on their websites said that any institution or individual is not allowed to use accounts opened in the bank for deposits, withdrawals and transfers of funds for bitcoin and litecoin trading.

This is aimed at protecting the property rights and interests of the public, maintaining the legal currency status of the renminbi and preventing money laundering risks, the statements said. If customers break the rules, the banks will suspend or shut down their accounts.

Bitcoins, stored in a virtual wallet, can pass from person to person around the world in secret, allowing users to remain anonymous, bypassing both banks and banking regulators worldwide.

As the crypto-currency has the potential to be exploited for fraud and presents high risk investment opportunities, it has aroused controversy.

The bans followed a warning from Chinese regulators in December. Five government departments including the central bank cautioned people on the risks related to bitcoin and demanded financial and third-party payment institutions not engage in transactions involving the virtual currency.

According to statistics released by Huobi, one of the leading bitcoin exchanges, transactions have dropped monthly since December. In April, the price of bitcoin decreased by 30%, while the transaction volume fell by 40% on the previous month.

Five leading Chinese bitcoin trading exchanges, including BTC China, Huobi and OKCoin, released a statement on Tuesday, promising to restrain from excessive speculation and cooperate with regulators.

Bitcoin transactions on these five exchanges take up more than 80% of the total Chinese market.

"If China maintains tough regulatory policies, the price of bitcoin will definitely keep dropping," said Du Jun, co-founder of Huobi.

It is a matter of urgency for Chinese bitcoin trading platforms to speed up overseas expansion. "We are developing some overseas platforms right now," Du said.

Last year, China became the most active bitcoin market in the world. Exchange platforms have also attracted many international investors.

He Yi, OKCoin vice president, said his company started tapping into the overseas market at the end of 2013.

"But it does not mean we are giving up on the Chinese market. Going global was one of our original plans," he added.

The restrained bitcoin trading service in China has affected the virtual currency on the global market.

According to statistics released by Blockchain, a popular bitcoin wallet, the global market value of the virtual currency has slumped to US$5.6 billion from a record high of US$13.9 billion in December.

In February, Tokyo-based Mt Gox, once the world's largest bitcoin exchanges, suddenly shut down after hundreds of millions of dollars worth of bitcoin was stolen following a number of cyber attacks.

Overseas expansion is not easy, but insiders regard it as an opportunity.

Li Qiyuan, CEO of BTC China, said more exchanges may close down in the future. "The market will select the superior and eliminate the inferior. Only professional exchanges may survive," he said.

People like Li still have confidence in the market despite regulations being adopted by countries worldwide.

"Bitcoin does not belong to China or America. It is a global digital currency. It will survive as long as countries allow trading," Du added.

Modi's Campaign Largest Mass Outreach in Electoral History

LME PRICE AND WAREHOUSE STOCK APRIL 2014, LONDON METAL EXCHANGE.

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Barclays - China's April Commodity Imports Still Strong

Chinese import data for April suggest still-resilient domestic demand and likely corporate stocking of raw materials on low commodity prices, said Barclays Research.

According to Barclays, Chinese crude oil and copper saw double-digit import gains in value terms, while the volume of iron ore imports also saw double-digit rises, although value rose only 2.1%.

Automobile imports also maintained strong growth, rising by 33% in April. Overall, Barclays thinks the data support their view of a modest quarter-on-quarter growth recovery in the second quarter.

No Russian Troop Withdrawals Shows Latest Satellite Images.

Surprise: Putin punked everyone again.

But it's all good because the fake de-escalation allowed the rigged Dow Jones to close at a new all time high inspiring Americans full of "confidence" so they can go ahead and spend money they don't have to boost US Q2 GDP: after all it has a ways to go to hit Goldman's 3.9% quarterly target.

And now it's time to unleash the Kerry once again, who will explain all the "cost" nuances the Kremlin has missed for the past two months, and we get round X+1 of "de-escalation" headlines next week again which in turn pushed the DJIA to record-est highs. Rinse. Repeat.

Copper boosted by China trade data

COPPER futures closed higher on the London Metal Exchange, boosted by some solid trade data from top metals consumer China.

The LME's flagship three-month copper contract was up 1.1 per cent at US$ 6,729 a metric ton at the close.

China posted unexpected gains in both exports and imports for April, beating market estimates and adding up to a trade surplus of US$ 18.46 billion.

Its April copper, copper-products imports rose 52.5 per cent on the year to 450,000 tons.

"Chinese traders have clearly taken advantage once again of the low copper prices - the red metal dropped by 10 per cent in price for a time in March, losses that it has only partially been able to recoup in the meantime - to buy up material opportunistically," said analysts at Commerzbank AG.

China is the world's largest copper market, accounting for 40 per cent of the world's imports of the industrial metal.

Nickel at two-year high after Vale suspends Goro plant

Mining giant Vale SA (NYSE:VALE) suspended production at its New Caledonia's Goro nickel processing plant and mine due to an effluent spill,Reuters reported on Thursday.

The president of New Caledonia's Southern Province, Cynthia Ligeard, ordered Brazil's Vale, the world's second biggest nickel producer, to halt operations immediately, after an estimated 100,000 litres of effluent ended up in a creek, according to Radio New Zealand International (RNZI).

The provincial government and the environmental authority have sent a joint mission to evaluate the state of the US$6 billion plant.

Vale said in response the spill was due to a misconfiguration of the circuits transferring solution and he water quality of the creek is now back to normal.

The Goro mine had been targeting to produce about 40,000 tonnes of nickel this year, out of a total worldwide production of about two million tonnes.

Earlier this week Glencore Xstrata said output at its Koniambo mine, also in New Caledonia, had been disappointing, and that its 26,000-tonne production forecast for this year was being reviewed.

Nickel prices hit a two-year high in London Metal Exchange on Thursday morning, reaching $19,786, the biggest one-day gain in nearly four years, over supply concerns including Indonesia's ban on nickel early this year. 

According to Bloomberg Deutsche Bank analysts expect nickel to peak at $27,000 a metric ton in 2017.

Despite being one of the best-performing commodities this year, with prices rising over a third since January, nickel doesn't seem to be in the cards for diversified giant Anglo American (LON: AAL).

The miner said Thursday it is mulling the sale of its Brazilian nickel unit to Vale, the South American country’s largest miner, as part of its ongoing efforts to swing back to profit.