Investment yes, means of payment no: China is turning around with Bitcoin

Sandra Loyd

Bitcoin has apparently earned the reputation of China. (Photo: Lukasz Stefanski / shutterstock)

China has apparently radically changed its official opinion on Bitcoin and is now evaluating the cryptocurrency as an “investment alternative “. The country is sticking to the e-yuan.

Four years ago China had its Tone in terms of cryptocurrencies tightened and initially so-called Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) and later also domestic crypto exchanges were banned. Instead of Bitcoin, China relied on the development of its own digital currency, the e-yuan. Now the assessment of China has apparently changed – and quite radically. At an event, the Vice Governor of the Chinese People’s Bank of China (PBOC) Li Bo described at least Bitcoin and stablecoins as “investment alternatives”.

Bitcoin: Investment yes, means of payment no

Li Bo emphasized, however, that China does not consider cryptocurrencies as a possible means of payment, as reported by CNBC. In addition, the country is sticking to the existing regulation and its plans to introduce its own digital currency with the e-yuan. The e-yuan is said to be issued by the PBOC. The starting shot for tests with international visitors could be given as part of the Winter Olympics in 2022.

Observers see a U-turn in the statements of the Chinese banker the official Chinese way of looking at cryptocurrencies. The importance of the opinion on Bitcoin from the giant empire is shown not least in the price development. Last week, the IPO of the Coinbase crypto exchange lifted the Bitcoin price to a new all-time high. Profit-taking as well as concerns about the threat of stricter regulation in the USA and the EU and a partial ban in Turkey had caused a price slide of up to 15 percent at the weekend.

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Bitcoin price recovers again

Probably also because of the positive news from China, the price of Bitcoin and the other crypto currencies recovered again in the night from Sunday to Monday. According to Coinmarketcap, Bitcoin went up from around $ 53,500 to currently around $ 57,500. Ethereum / Ether jumped from around 2,000 to a good 2,250 dollars.

The fun currency Dogecoin has meanwhile been decoupled from the general price development of the past few days. In the past week there has been a five-fold increase in the rate. On Friday, the coin, sponsored by Tesla boss Elon Musk, reached its all-time high of just under $ 0.44. With a market capitalization of almost 50 billion dollars, the fun currency is currently in sixth place in the ranking of the most valuable cryptocurrencies.

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