China’s oldest tech publication, the Beijing Sci-Tech Report, is now accepting Bitcoin as payment for its 2019 edition. It has become the first media outlet in Beijing to include BTC for subscriptions in a bid to aid mass adoption of the cryptocurrency.

It will charge 0.01 BTC (about $65 at the current price of Bitcoin) for the yearly subscription. In an interesting twist, if the price of Bitcoin increases at the end of the one-year subscription, the publication will refund the difference to the customer.

50 years and counting

The title has been around for more than 50 years and is charged with bringing the famous US publication Popular Science to China.

The Beijing Sci-Tech Report is the official newspaper of the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China. The fact that the magazine is state-run begs the question as to why it would allow payment in Bitcoin, given that the government has been adamant in prohibiting cryptocurrencies across the country.

In August, China intensified its clampdown on crypto-related operations by blocking their access to the internet. However, owning and investing in crypto is not officially illegal, which is why the tech magazine is not breaking the law, according to Chinese cryptocurrency news commentator cnLedger.

If it were illegal, “Jihan (Wu, CEO) of Bitmain and Leon (Li, CEO) of Huobi would be among the first ones to get fined or jailed”.