There is something terribly wrong with governments and law enforcement agencies who confiscate cash at random. An article surfaced online on September 10th, explaining how Chinese travelers often carry huge amounts of cash. The majority of confiscations occurred at Vancouver International Airport. No wonder Chinese consumers and investors are flocking to Bitcoin.
Chinese Tourists Face Cash Confiscation
While it may sound unusual for Chinese tourists to carry vast sums of cash into a different country, it looks like law enforcement is targeting this particular group of people. Over 70% of all undeclared cash seized at Vancouver International Airport in the past few years belongs to Chinese travelers. That is quite an unusual statistic, to say the least.
Interestingly enough, Canadian law doesn’t prohibit people from bringing large amounts of cash into the country. Travelers have to declare amounts surpassing CA$ 10,000. Though. But there is a reason why the Chinese move their money out of their home country, as capital controls prevent them from using it in any other form.
Granted, this is causing a lot of concern, as the majority of this funds is being used to purchase real estate in Canada. Chinese investors and consumers are diversifying their portfolio, and international real estate is a booming market. However, since the money is not taxed in Canada, nor has any ties to the local market, it has caught the attention of government officials.
To make matters worse, British Columbia is working on a “solution”:
“We are working with the federal government in identifying strategies to strengthen information sharing among various levels of government, in an effort to prevent tax evasion and money laundering in real estate:”
All of this goes to show the average Chinese person has very little options to spend their money or turn it into something valuable. Domestic trading is closely monitored, and international travel with large amounts of cash may lead to confiscation. This creates an even better use case for Bitcoin as an investment vehicle since no one can seize it, or tell people how to use it.
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