Bitcoin finally wins in China after years of government crackdown

TL; DR Breakdown

• A senior officer of the PBoC sees Bitcoin as an investment option.
• There’s a need for viable crypto regulations.
• China is relaxing its anti-crypto rhetoric.

Bitcoin seems to be winning big in China after a top government official was quoted as saying that the cryptocurrency is actually an investment alternative. This incident is notable especially considering the effort the Chinese government has put into cracking down on cryptocurrencies.

Back in 2017, the government banned ICOs and crypto exchanges, driving out Binance exchange that had to set up shop elsewhere. Now, recent comments by the deputy head of the People’s Bank of China seems to suggest that China is finally softening its hard stance against cryptos like Bitcoin. During a session on CNBC, Li Bo said that although Bitcoin and stablecoins aren’t regarded as actual currencies, they can be looked at as crypto assets and therefore investment alternatives. The news was also shared in a tweet by a BTC fan.

Bitcoin regulatory framework

While still speaking from the ‘investment alternative” angle, Li Bo noted that a lot of countries, including China, are exploring options on how to deal with the growing crypto market. Li agreed that proper regulatory frameworks are needed in place to prevent financial risks that could come with speculation that is the market normalcy of the crypto industry.

Analysts think that China is relaxing its strong restrictions against Bitcoin to gain support for its upcoming CBDC. That could also explain why Li Bo put Bitcoin and stablecoins in the same basket as ‘investment alternatives.”

Huge possibilities

China holds the world’s largest population, and as a super economy, there’s money in its market. If Bitcoin restrictions are lifted, the crypto’s market could see a huge influx of new money from Chinese buyers and ultimately drive up the demand and value of BTC. This would be one of the greatest wins for BTC as it would have achieved acceptance in the world’s largest population. Being a market leader, China’s action could prompt many more governments that have been anti-crypto to accept them as well.