Bitcoin demand in Asia is more active than in the US
Back on May 31st, one the major Bitcoin exchanges in China called OKCoin returned to help improving the Bitcoin demand withing the Chinese exchanges after a period of suspension of transactions.
As a result, more bitcoin investors are recovering their interest in bitcoin and they are driving the demand for the digital currency.
So, thanks to the activation of withdrawals, bitcoin is now trading at a premium rate in China.
Also, the Chinese press that talks about bitcoin as digital gold is pushing the recent growth of the bitcoin demand for local traders.
On Friday, bitcoin price was about $2,340 in China. A value that was $50 higher than the US rate.
Of course, there are several other major factors that are driving bitcoin price. For example the legalization of the digital currency in Japan, and the use of ICOs in raising funds.
Experts believe that the increasing demand in Asia is pushing the recent growth in the bitcoin price.
South Korea
In South Korea, Bitcoin price increases up to $3,100 when the price on the US exchanges was about $2,400, so $300 higher than the US.
A few startups are also using bitcoin for sending remittances since it works better and faster than traditional money.
For example, one of these startups is called Bluepan, located in South Korea. This company provides an easy way to send money from overseas workers to their families.
In 2 years, Bluepan has processed payments worth $65 mln and for the past year, they recorded a five-time increase in transactions.
Why in Asia?
That said, it is clear that Bitcoin demand in Asia is increasing and its driving prices, while North America shares only a small amount of all users in any sector.
For example, there are fewer customers in North America who use money transfers than in Asia.
This is maybe due to the fact that the worldwide financial system is based on the US dollar, so remittance transactions are easier between dollars and non-dollar currencies compared with transactions that involve two non-dollar currencies.
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Bitcoin exchange regulation in China
Soon a new bitcoin exchange regulation in China may be required to ensure know-your-customers (KYC) verifications.
According to an article published by Caixin, the People’s Bank of China issued a new paper for the Chinese exchanges on which it is looking for comments for the proposed regulation.
This move is part of a effort by the Chinese central bank in order to have a bitcoin exchange regulation and avoid money laundering and other financial crimes.
According to the official press release, this paper explains both a regulation related to the anti-money laundering (AML) issues and the creation of a customer identification system.
Bitcoin users will have to own an on-site certification if they want to deposit funds. To do se, they will have to present identification at the time of registration. Also, for clients who hold more than ¥50,000 (over $7,200) in volume, a remote video certification will be required to authenticate their own identity.
The document also contemplates that there must be a senior management team who controls AML procedures and reports dubious transactions.
This news come after the PBoC’s decision made back in January that indicates to intervene in the Chinese bitcoin market during this period of heavy bitcoin price volatility.
Since then, bitcoin exchanges started to implement several new policies, ending margin trading and freezing withdrawals for a few cryptocurrencies.
At the moment, while I’m writing this article, bitcoin Chinese exchange withdrawals are still frozen.
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Value of Bitcoin: the digital currency’s higher price
The value of bitcoin has grown a lot in the last period, reaching its all-time high set back in 2013.
According to the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index, at the moment the value of bitcoin is less than $30 below the maximum ever value of $1,165.89 reached on November 30th, 2013.
This latest rise comes after bitcoin’s longest ever period at over $1,000, and a period of average volatility during the recent few months.
Also, this high might reflect the traders and investors confidence in an industry field that has been recently affected by the Chinese central bank’s plan to restrict the Chinese bitcoin exchanges environment, with the result of several of them to temporarily stop any withdrawals of the digital currency.
Click here to better understand what gives Bitcoin value with an infographic.
Another possible news to having an influence on the value of Bitcoin is the currently SEC decision on the Winklevoss brothers’ bitcoin ETF – an event that some experts explained that traders are already pricing in a potential approval.
On March 11st we could see the approval of the first bitcoin ETF within the U.S.A. market, opening the virtual currency to a larger group of investors.
However, many experts in the industry cannot see a high propension of financial regulators to approve this move.
For more charts about the Value of Bitcoin in the past, click here.
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Bitcoin Prices are trading above $950
Bitcoin prices are growing more than 3% since yesterday, trading above $950 for the first time in a few weeks.
The average price yesterday reached a high of $959.37 from an open of $920.24, according to the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (BPI). This chart shows that the Bitcoin prices haven’t passed $950 for a month, since January 6th 2017, to be more exact.
This Bitcoin prices growth above $950 came after a few days of a almost steady trading, in which the price of bitcoin ranged between roughly $910 and $922, according to trading data.
At the moment, the Bitcoin Prices are between $950 and $970 with a medium rate of volatility.
Chinese markets have climbed about 11%, reaching a high of ¥6,629.34.
Currently the price is about ¥6,608.70 and it represents a growth of 10.7% above yesterday’s open of ¥5,961.77.
This move comes after a big news in the worldwide exchange landscape, as major bourses in China moved to add trading fees.
This is the reason why volumes moved to the remaining markets without any fees.
Anyway, experts now discuss that this trend will have a short life as those exchanges will also add fees of their own for sure in the next future.
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China Blockchain project for a new digital currency
People’s Bank of China (PBOC) is working on a China Blockchain project for a new digital currency.
According to an article published by Caixin yesterday, the People’s Bank of China completed a project on 15th December during which it tested how transactions could work by using a custom blockchain system.
The test was held together with major Chinese commercial banks including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Bank of China and WeBank.
The official press release reports:
“The bank suggested the digital currency would not only reduce circulation costs but also increase transparency and curb money laundering and tax evasion.”
Also, the official report just released explained that the new China Blockchain digital currency might be connected to the Shanghai Commercial Paper Exchange to create a “national platform for bank bill transactions”.
Together with this new project the PBOC will also open a digital currency research institute for which it is looking for experts in big data, fintech, cryptography and distributed ledger technology.
The official report shared by the PBOC governor Zhou Xiaochuan in February, also explained that the central bank was considering the distributed ledger as one of a few different technologies that can be allow it to create a new form of digital cash.
Also, this project coincides with the current PBOC’s investigations into the most important bitcoin exchanges of the country, an operation that started in January and that has seen several startups doing a few changes to trading policies.
Read more news about the China Blockchain projects by clicking here.
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Halving and Bitcon price: there might be a hard fork problem
Bitcoin Price is growing
Hard Fork Problem
In the meantime, in fact, the ethereum price for example surged 50% in a week.
Multicurrency Wallet
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Bitcoin price future: it is alive and well
Reason of the Bitcoin Price jump
Positive news about Bitcoin
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Bitcoin rise driven by Chinese domain
Why is this happening?
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HolyTransaction’s Bitcoin Monthly Roundup of January 2016
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Infographic: What is Bitcoin Mining?
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