{"id":107270,"date":"2019-06-05T15:41:30","date_gmt":"2019-06-05T22:41:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/?p=107270"},"modified":"2019-11-07T02:52:12","modified_gmt":"2019-11-07T02:52:12","slug":"chinas-influence-over-price-bitcoin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/chinas-influence-over-price-bitcoin\/","title":{"rendered":"Demand from China could be pushing the price of Bitcoin"},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite banning cryptocurrency exchanges, China may still have a big influence on the industry. The recent surge\u2014and drop\u2014in bitcoin<\/a> prices could have been helped by trends coming from the Asian market.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s influence over Bitcoin<\/h2>\n

Since Sept. 4, 2017, the Chinese government made it illegal<\/a> for mainlanders to exchange digital currencies. The ban was intended to shut down cryptocurrency exchanges and especially initial coin offerings (ICO), which were raising funds without regulatory oversight and had \u201cseriously disrupted the economic and financial order.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although the ban was intended to stop criminal activity, it did not affect Chinese investors from buying cryptos in offshore accounts or even investing in ICOs. The cryptocurrency exchanges were not impacted either, as Scott Freeman, the CEO of Chinese-based crypto exchange C2CX, explained:<\/p>\n

“None of the exchanges previously based in China ceased business. They simply moved their servers abroad. The only change is that for the moment the funds will move in and out of local currency via P2P transactions instead of via direct deposit. From a regulatory perspective this is an inferior solution because it's much harder to prevent money laundering.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Indeed, by November of the same year, the top three bitcoin trading platforms in mainland China\u2014Huobi<\/a>, OkCoin, and BTCC\u2014had halted all trading services for local customers and moved out of the country.<\/p>\n

The only thing that was affected by the Chinese government shut down on cryptos was the market valuation of bitcoin. When the announcement was made, BTC fell 35.3 percent. After hitting a high of $5,000 the cryptocurrency plunged to $3,250 as the news about the ban spread.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Today, almost two years later after the Chinese ban on cryptocurrencies, bitcoin\u2019s market valuation may still be correlated. According to Barry Silbert<\/a>, the founder and CEO of Digital Currency Group<\/a>, there might be a correlation between the recent rise in BTC price and the trade war between the United States and China.<\/p>\n

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Flight to safety of bitcoin<\/p>\n

— Barry Silbert (@barrysilbert) May 13, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n