Cryptocurrency traders in China appear to have found numerous ways to circumvent the nationwide ban on trading with digital currencies. According to industry experts, as long as the transactions remain peer-to-peer and decentralized, regulators wont be able to block them out completely.
TETHER AND VPNS TO THE RESCUE
Quoting sources familiar to the matter, South China Morning Post reports that many retail investors, in addition to using illegal cryptocurrency exchanges, would convert their fiat into stablecoin Tether, and exchange between cryptocurrency wallets directly. All online actions are carried out through a Virtual Private Network (VPN) in order to protect the anonymity of the trader and to circumvent the restrictions.
The government hasnt taken any actions on blocking VPNs, even though a source close to the matter revealed that:
Chinese regulators definitely have the technical ability to shut down VPNs. [
] However, traditionally it takes numerous conversations with different stakeholders to reach a consensus on configuring a firewall, which lengthens the process.
Some companies like Tencent have officially confirmed that theyd block transactions, or ban accounts, associated with cryptocurrency trading. How such accounts or transactions would be identified, though, is yet to be revealed.
Read more: https://bitcoinist.com/china-cryptocurrency-tether-vpn-bypass-ban/