BTCC Archives

The PBOC intervention:

While the exchanges are taking sufficient time to set up the required monitoring system, they have extended the suspension of withdrawals. The dwindling Bitcoin volumes from China were an indication of how automated traders were flushed out from Bitcoin Markets and pseudo Chinese volumes were avoided. This has allowed Bitcoin’s perceived value to move closer to its real value and gave the market participants a good glimpse of the adoption status of the cryptocurrency and its true market presence. BTC China, famously known as BTCC has been optimistic about the cryptocurrency despite all the hurdles.

The wallet features and social media adoption:

BTC China’s CEO, Bobby Lee recently tweeted his prediction placing Bitcoin’s price in the range of $5,000-$10,000 by the end of 2020. To pace up the adoption and promote the cryptocurrency, the exchange has come out with interesting features for Bitcoin users. The exchange which already mints physical Bitcoins for usage, has now entered the mobile payments market. The platform- Mobi is a multi-currency mobile wallet that enables bitcoin storage and conversion. One can convert to over 100 currencies including gold and silver. The wallet has no registration process and enables users to register with the phone number associated with their mobile device.

The app enables customers to transfer every currency the platform supports to Twitter and through SMS text as well. With cryptocurrencies’ adoption relying heavily on social media publicity, this was a premeditated attempt to use it to integrate the platforms for better and comfortable usage.

“With Mobi, we are taking Bitcoin mainstream”, stated the Bitcoin start-up.

What has been in the air surrounding Bitcoin and China from the start of the New Year has indeed been confirmed on 11^th of January. Rumors about China moving forward with regulation and capital controls on Bitcoin are proven to be true. While the volume from Chinese exchanges remained fairly constant or increased, the price of Bitcoin took a hit. These regulations will need a good 2-3 years for formulation and taking complete effect. But the news came as a shock to the market and has seen the market reacting very adversely. The price has dropped to around $750 with little support. Let’s diagnose the crash and what we can expect further from here:

When did this start?

Chinese economy is a credit fueled economy and they have observed that the currency generated has been steadily finding its way out of the country. With patterns where Bitcoin prices increase with Yuan devaluation, they have figured out that Bitcoin was the medium. To confirm the same the authorities have closely monitored the digital currency with thoughts of regulating it. China as such has strong capital controls and conversion of local currency into foreign currency is well regulated. However Bitcoin having a peer to peer nature doesn’t get accounted in these regulations. Hence Chinese authorities have decided to employ strict capital controls over Bitcoin. These measures require identification and completion of detailed forms to convert yuan into Bitcoin or invest in Bitcoin.

How is PBOC regulating?

China’s financial regulators are reportedly seeking opinions on how to regulate the trading of bitcoin and have contacted the exchanges on the same. One of the proposed methods may include setting up a depository platform. Chinese exchange BTCC – one of three leading bitcoin trading platforms spoke to by the People’s Bank of China last Friday. They have explicitly stated that they adhere to “strict AML/KYC policies and it’s not possible to evade the capital controls through their channel”. With Peoples Bank of China probing deeply into matters, we can expect strict regulations to be implemented very soon.

Diagnosis and predictions:

Bitcoin has been trading at peak prices after a sustained bull run last year. During this time, many investors moved their funds into the digital currency for long term holding. With the fears triggering a complete crash, most of the investors decided to exit the market furthering the price drop. With the price now lingering around $760, we can see one of the following two things happening.

Bullish side:

If the price consolidates and moves up with momentum and breaks the all the time high, then Bitcoin can head straight to $2000 levels within the next couple of months.

Bearish side:

On the Bearish side, $560-$600 range is a heavy support zone that held the prices on multiple occasions. Once market breaches these levels, a strong crash taking Bitcoin to $250 can be expected.

How the market would choose to react now and what side Bitcoin decides to rally again, only time will tell.