# China
Together with Japan and South Korea, China forms the trio of countries dominating the Asian segment of the cryptocurrency market. Due to its rocky relationship with cryptos, China is often the source of confusing news reports about the status of this technology in the country. For starters, cryptocurrencies are not banned in China and some of the more prominent ones on the global scene actually hail from this country, such as NEO. What is really banned in China is the use of digital currencies, which still does not preclude Chinese citizens from holding cryptos as assets. The same goes for Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) which have been prohibited in China since 2017. In 2019, China made the news by its announcements about incoming ban on Bitcoin mining citing the waste of energy and environmental impact of such an activity.