But Taobao’s impending ban is puzzling. While China’s Central Bank has decreed that Bitcoin and any other virtual currency cannot be used as a currency (ie: for buying and selling stuff), people may still trade it and invest in it as a commodity. In theory, that makes it fine to trade online, and perfectly legal to buy virtual currency mining kit, so long as everything is paid for with a proper currency like China’s RMB. In an email conversation with Tech in Asia, an Alibaba representative declined to comment on why this ban goes beyond what China’s Central Bank has ruled upon.

Read the full article on Tech In Asia here.