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Tencent also responded to the government pressure by cutting the amount of coins users can transfer from one person to another, and shutting down its service for exchanging game wins into QQ coins, drying up liquidity in the market.Īround the globe, a real-world trade has emerged around virtual assets.
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The case has been accepted by the court and is now being considered. It sued one of the country's top online auction sites,, for allowing the sale of QQ coins on the Web site at market prices. Nonetheless, Tencent is stuck cleaning up a very real mess. But QQ coins are not anything like that," says a company spokesman. "We agree that we should prevent online virtual money from being used illegally, such as for money-laundering. Tencent says it never aimed to mint money and says the company doesn't consider QQ coins to be virtual currency. Without mentioning QQ coins specifically, the statement said that the government will bar users from trading virtual currency for real money, and ordered sites to make a distinction between online credits (like QQ coins) and real money used for e-commerce. "The People's Bank of China will strengthen management of the virtual currencies used in online games and will stay on the lookout for any assault by such virtual currencies on the real economic and financial order," the ministries and bank said in a joint statement. Last month, 14 Chinese ministries and China's central bank together waged a QQ coin crackdown of sorts, calling on companies to stop trading them in order to prevent money laundering. The rapid rise of the QQ coin has caused angst for the government in China, where circulation and trade of the real currency is strictly controlled. "It's fun and it doesn't hurt to get some pocket money if possible," says Mr. He hasn't earned that much off his new side business yet - "I only make several yuan a day" - but for now, he's going to keep going. The retailer then transfers the QQ coins to the buyer's account, like one might do with air miles, or even just gives the buyer access to her own QQ account (including username and password) where QQ coins are stored.ĭavid Liu from Liaoning province started an online shop selling QQ coins a few months ago. Customers then pay the seller yuan through a debit card, money-order transfer or special online payment systems such as Paypal. Here's how the transactions work: A small-time retailer offers QQ coins for sale at her online shop at a discount price - currently about. Dozens of third-party trading posts sprouted up to ease transactions, turning the QQ coin into a kind of parallel currency. Gamblers caught wind, too, and started using the currency to get around China's anti-gambling laws, converting wins in online mahjong and card games back into cash. So-called QQ Girls started accepting the coins as payment for intimate private chats online. State-run media reported that some online shoppers began using QQ coins to buy real-world items such as CDs and makeup. Traders began jumping into the QQ coin market as an opportunity to make a quick yuan off of currency speculation. The coins appeal as a safer, more practical way to conduct small online purchases, because credit cards aren't yet commonplace in China.Īt informal online currency marketplaces, thousands of users helped turn the QQ coins back into cash by selling them at a discount that varies based on the laws of supply and demand. Online game sites beyond Tencent started accepting QQ coins as payment. Then last year something happened that Tencent hadn't originally planned. About 45% of that went for items in the Tencent world. According to one government estimate, the total volume of trading in virtual items in China last year was worth about $900 million.