Late last week, a report from Caixinshook the Bitcoin world. According to the state-owned media outlet, China plans to ban all cryptocurrency exchanges. The report was followed by a similar one from The Wall Street Journal, which cited anonymous sources familiar with the matter.
And, initially, the price of Bitcoin plummeted, falling from roughly $4,600 to $4,000. But three days later, the price of Bitcoin (and most other major cryptocurrencies including Ethereum) is rising again.
So what's happening? Was the report false? The answer is unclear at this point, but the market either no longer believes the report, or it simply doesn't care.
SEE ALSO:Here's how to deal with those ridiculously high Bitcoin transaction feesMake no mistake—China definitely can pull such a move. The country clamped down hard on Bitcoin several times in the cryptocurrency's history. And the People's Bank of China recently banned cryptocurrency ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings, or token sales) in the country.
The reasoning behind China's actions towards Bitcoin is complex, but is mainly driven by the fact that cryptocurrencies are tough to control and can be used to move money out of the country, which does not sit well with China's authorities.
Banning all crypto trading on exchanges is a far more serious move than the ICO ban. Several of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges reside in China, and the country is neck and neck with the U.S. in terms of Bitcoin trading market share.
In other words, Bitcoin should be plummeting. Instead, it's rising steadily and sits at $4,320 at the time of writing, meaning that the market isn't overly concerned about the ban.
There are several indicators that Caixin's report on China banning all crypto exchanges might be false or only partially true.
First, even though several days have passed since the original report, there has been no official notice on the matter from the People's Bank of China. Second, three of the largest exchanges in China—OKCoin, BTC China and Huobi—said on Monday that they haven't heard anything about a ban from the country's regulators, at least not officially.
Tweet may have been deleted
And Bloombergwrote on Monday that over-the-counter transactions (off-exchange trading) would not be banned, meaning trading crypto would still be possible for whales (informal moniker for entities that own very large amounts of crypto).
While it's still very possible that China will, indeed, ban crypto trading, it could only be a temporary blow for Bitcoin. Several experts weighed in following the reports, saying the money will ultimately move elsewhere in case of a ban.
Tweet may have been deleted
Tweet may have been deleted
Tweet may have been deleted
When it comes to Bitcoin, China's authorities are known to change their minds often, and a lot of the time they've been ambiguous on what they plan to do. It's quite possible that the rumors about the ban of crypto trading will stay lingering in the air for a while, without official confirmation or denial. Right now, it appears that even such uncertainty cannot stop Bitcoin in its tracks.
Disclosure: The author of this text owns, or has recently owned, a number of cryptocurrencies, including BTC and ETH.
TopicsBitcoin
(责任编辑：休閑)
Tesla's rumored P100D could make Ludicrous mode even more Ludicrous
Sophie Turner thinks Sansa will probably get killed off on 'Game of Thrones'
What it's like to use the original iPhone in 2017
Happy aphelion, the day when the Earth is farthest from the sun
Wikipedia coMom discovers security cameras hacked, kids' bedroom livestreamed
A mother in Houston, Texas woke up one morning to pretty much every parent's worst-case scenario. 。 "
...[详细]5 secrets of top wingmen that can help you help your friends find love
We all know our friends are sometimes far better at picking dates for us than we are for ourselves.
...[详细]iPhone 2020 roundtable: Dissecting the future of Apple's 'one device'
It's pretty remarkable that, 10 years after the iPhone first debuted, that it's still recognizably a
...[详细]Dad takes daughter's phone away, follows up with best troll
A phone time-out is a tragedy for anyone, especially for a young girl. One dad decided to make the w
...[详细]Florida hurricane forecast remains uncertain, but trends in state's favor
For days, a war has been raging between two of the premiere computer models used to help predict the
...[详细]Over 20,000 people lit up a park to celebrate pride
More than 20,000 Singaporeans came to Pink Dot, the city's annual LGBTQ festival this year, accordin
...[详细]Once again, here's why people should think twice about riding elephants
We're sure you don't need to be told, but riding elephants is not good.A new report by World Animal
...[详细]J.K. Rowling responds to Trump's latest insult with a powerful Abraham Lincoln quote
We can always count on author J.K. Rowling to call out Donald Trump on his bizarre Twitter behavior.
...[详细]
With the Pokémon Go fever still shaking half the world, there's bound to be plenty of trainer
...[详细]Watch a bear play in an Alaskan waterfall right from Google Earth
Thanks to Voyager, Google Earth's storytelling platform, you can now basically take an even deeper l
...[详细]Katy Perry talks 'Rise,' her next batch of songs, and how to survive Twitter
Sick of nightmarish flight neighbors? This airline lets you bid on the seats near you
