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China’s Crypto Interest Surges Despite Ban, During Economic And Stock Market Downturn
In early 2023, as the Chinese economy and stock markets showed signs of weakness, individuals like Dylan Run, a finance executive in Shanghai, began diverting their investments into cryptocurrencies, seeking refuge from the volatile economic landscape.
Despite China’s ban on cryptocurrency trading and mining since 2021, citizens have found ingenious ways to bypass restrictions, utilizing small rural bank cards and grey-market dealers to invest in digital currencies while avoiding detection by keeping transactions under a certain threshold.
Run’s move towards cryptocurrencies has seen his digital asset investments soar by 45%, offering a stark contrast to the declining Chinese equities and property markets.
Chinese investors are increasingly drawn to cryptocurrencies as a safer alternative to the unstable stock and property markets at home.
They navigate through the grey areas of the law, trading on international platforms and utilizing over-the-counter channels to access digital assets.
Some are even leveraging Hong Kong’s more favorable stance towards digital assets, using their annual foreign exchange quotas to invest in cryptocurrencies.
This shift reflects a broader trend of seeking more stable and promising investment opportunities outside the mainland, amidst the economic uncertainties plaguing China.
The allure of cryptocurrencies in China persists despite regulatory hurdles, with crypto exchange trading platforms like OKX and Binance subtly catering to Chinese investors.
The resurgence of crypto activities in China is highlighted by its jump in global rankings for peer-to-peer trade volume and an estimated $86.4 billion in transactions recorded in a year, underscoring the robust underground Chinese market that has been thriving on grey-market dealings and over-the-counter trades, despite the wider ban.
This vibrant crypto scene is further evidenced by the emergence of physical crypto exchange stores in Hong Kong, offering accessible trading options with minimal regulatory oversight.
The growing interest in cryptocurrencies among Chinese investors, including financial institutions looking for growth opportunities, reflects a broader search for viable alternatives to the traditional, underperforming investment avenues.
With the Chinese property market in decline and the stock market halved in value since early 2021, digital assets like Bitcoin present a volatile yet potentially lucrative option.
This crypto pivot, especially evident in Hong Kong’s burgeoning crypto scene, might indicate a subtle shift in China’s stance towards digital currencies, possibly using Hong Kong as a testing ground for future crypto initiatives. Read more here.
Beijing, China, releases Web3 white paper. Why DeFi is broken and how to fix it.
Hong Kong welcomes crypto with regulation.
Using Cryptocurrency In Economic Uncertainty. Where Does Zucoin Position Itself?
In the shadow of economic uncertainty and stringent regulatory frameworks in China, investors gravitating towards cryptocurrencies is not just a story of asset diversification but a profound return to the foundational principles set forth by Bitcoin’s founder Satoshi Nakamoto.
Amidst the backdrop of China’s bruised stock market and stringent controls over capital movement, the essence of decentralization, security, transparency, and inclusivity in cryptocurrencies provides a solution.
Decentralization, a bedrock of the cryptocurrency ethos, has popped up as a theme, where tight power and strict regulations have left many investors yearning for autonomy and control over their assets.
Crypto’s transparency not only helps build trust among its users but also illuminates a path through the complexities of current asset markets, offering a clear and verifiable record of transactions that aims to clear up the murkiness of traditional asset investment channels.
Entirely new asset markets, far more than what we’ve seen with NFTs, will form around this unique capability of crypto technologies in the coming years.
Inclusivity, the goal of democratizing access to financial services, resonates profoundly with Chinese investors as it does with many other parts of the world.
Cryptocurrencies, with their minimal entry thresholds and global reach, bring digital asset involvement to a broader spectrum of the population.
While the complexity of many crypto apps and systems is still too high for many to comfortably and safely use, this is one area where Zucoin spends an enormous amount of time—simplifying the hard stuff.
One example is that Zucoin’s Splitchain network has two-factor transactions built in to its core.
We don’t know of another crypto technology that does this on its base (layer-1) infrastructure—meaning, it’s how every transaction is forced to work on Splitchain.
It’s not opt-in and that’s a powerful thing.
We mention this a lot here, but that’s because it’s a fundamentally different way to improve the safety of a transaction.
Both the sender and the receiver need to confirm a transaction.
So many scams and transfers that are sent to the wrong address happen because two-factor verifications aren’t a part of the transaction process.
Processes like bank transfers and most other cryptocurrency transfers are one-way, meaning there is no confirmation on the other end.
In one-way transaction systems, when you enter one wrong character in the receiver’s address, the transfer can go into a completely different account.
It’s a slow process to stop and recover it (assuming you catch it in time).
With Zucoin’s transfer process, not only do the sender and receiver have to both confirm a transaction, but the sender has to also send the incomplete transfer to the correct receiver.
It all needs to match up, making transactions on Zucoin’s Splitchain network much, much safer than alternatives.
It’s just one of the dozens of innovations Zucoin has built right into their wallet app that we regularly cover here.
The actions of investors like Dylan Run toward cryptocurrencies signal a broader shift to digital assets that is happening around the world.
It’s because of the resilience, autonomy, and integrity provided by crypto technologies.
Regular readers will note this shift is not just a response to immediate economic challenges but a market that is steadily growing.
The demand is reflecting a need for better asset ownership systems.
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All the best,
—Rob
MyZucoins
Disclaimer: Of course, this is not advice, financial or otherwise. It’s also important to consider the risks and challenges associated with any potential benefits.