VOA慢速英語：韓國計劃禁止比特幣交易

South Korea Plans to Ban Bitcoin Trading

韓國計劃禁止比特幣交易

South Korea said on Thursday it plans to ban trading of cryptocurrency, including the popular bitcoin.

韓國周四表示計劃禁止加密貨幣的交易，其中就包括熱門的比特幣。

The announcement sent bitcoin prices much lower and created unrest in the cryptocurrency market.

這一消息使得比特幣價格大幅走低，并引起了加密貨幣市場的不安。

Justice Minister Park Sang-ki said the government was preparing a bill to ban trading of the virtual money on South Korean currency exchanges.

韓國司法部長樸相基(Park Sang-ki)表示，政府正在準備立法禁止韓國貨幣交易所交易虛擬貨幣。

He said, "There are great concerns regarding virtual currencies and the justice ministry is basically preparing a bill to ban cryptocurrency trading through exchanges."

他說：“關于虛擬貨幣存在很大的擔憂。司法部正在準備立法，以禁止加密貨幣通過交易所交易。”

The price of bitcoin in South Korea dropped as much as 21 percent immediately after the minister's comments.

韓國的比特幣價格在部長這番言論之后立馬下跌了21%。

Around the world, one bitcoin was valued at about $14,000 on Thursday, January 11. Over the past year, the price moved from less than $1,000 in January 2017 to a high of $19,000 last month.

1月11日全球范圍內一枚比特幣的價格在1.4萬美元左右。過去一年里，比特幣價格從2017年1月不到1千美元漲到了上個月的1.9萬美元。

Bitcoin is different from national currencies, which are supported by governments and national banks. It is stored as a line of computer code. It is not printed on paper or something you can hold.

比特幣不同于得到政府和國家銀行背書的國家貨幣。它被存儲為一行計算機代碼，它不是打印在紙上或其它你可以直接持有的東西。

Bitcoin is similar to real money because you can spend it without using your real identity, as you do with a credit card. People who want to buy and sell things anonymously like bitcoin.

比特幣與真實貨幣類似，因為你在消費比特幣時，無需像刷信用卡一樣使用你的真實身份。人們想要像比特幣一樣匿名買賣東西。

Exchanges of bitcoin in South Korea

韓國的比特幣交易

By Thursday afternoon, more than 55,000 South Koreans called on the government to stop the proposed ban.

截至周四下午，超過5.5萬名韓國人呼吁政府終止擬議的禁令。

After the price drop, the South Korean president's office said a ban on cryptocurrency exchanges had yet to be finalized. It said the ban was one of the measures being considered.

在價格下跌之后，韓國總統(tǒng)辦公室表示，加密貨幣交易禁令尚未最終敲定，禁令只是正在考慮的措施之一。

A press official at the justice ministry said the proposed ban on cryptocurrency trading came after "enough discussion" with finance ministry and financial officials.

司法部一位新聞官員表示，擬議的加密貨幣禁令經過了與財政部和財政官員的“充分討論。”

Once a bill is written, legislation for a ban of virtual coin trading still requires a majority of the vote in the National Assembly. It is a process that could take months or even years.

一旦議案出臺，對虛擬貨幣交易禁令的立法還需要獲得國民議會多數票同意。這個過程可以需要幾個月甚至幾年時間。

Mun Chong-hyun, chief analyst at EST Security, told Reuters the ban "will make trading difficult here, but not impossible."

EST Security首席分析師Mun Chong-hyun對路透社表示，禁令“會使交易在韓國變得困難，但不是無法交易。”

Mun added, "Keen traders, especially hackers, will find it tough to cash out their gains from virtual coin investments in Korea but they can go overseas, for example, Japan."

Mun補充說：“敏銳的交易者，尤其是黑客將會發(fā)現很難兌現從韓國虛擬貨幣投資中獲得的收益，但是他們可以走出國門，例如去日本。”

Park Nok-sun is a cryptocurrency expert at NH Investment & Securities. Park said "Some officials are pushing for stronger and stronger regulations because they only see more (investors) jumping in, not out."

Park Nok-sun是NH Investment & Securities的加密貨幣專家。Park表示，“有些官員正在推動更強有力的監(jiān)管規(guī)定，因為他們看到投資者只增不減。”

South Korean officials are worried that the rising value has fueled huge demand for cryptocurrency in the country. They fear college students and housewives are hoping to get rich quick by investing. They likened it to a game of chance.

韓國官員擔心，比特幣價格不斷上漲已經刺激了該國加密貨幣的巨大需求。他們擔心大學生和家庭主婦都希望通過投資比特幣暴富。他們將這比作賭博。

The news of South Korea's proposed ban came as governments around the world are looking to control the trading of cryptocurrencies.

韓國擬議禁令的消息傳來之際，世界各國政府都希望控制加密貨幣交易。

I'm Jonathan Evans.

喬納森·埃文斯報道。