In June 2014, this Authority issued a press release to call the attention of the financial industry and the public that Bitcoin is a type of virtual commodity which is neither a legal tender nor a financial instrument subject to supervision. Any trading of these commodities involves considerable risks, including but not limited to those relating to money laundering and terrorism financing, against which all participants should remain vigilant.
Due to recent happenings of financing activities through issuance of tokens in the Mainland, financial institutions and non-bank payment institutions are prohibited explicitly by Mainland authorities from providing services for these tokens and virtual currencies. At the same time, this Authority also issued a notice on 20 September 2017 to remind all the banking and payment institutions in Macao not to participate in or provide, directly or indirectly, any financial services for the related activities.