EMERGING TECH
EMERGING TECH
EMERGING TECH
Bitcoin hits new record high on rumors that China may rescind exchange ban
Bitcoin surged to a new record high of $6,306.58 in trading Sunday after rumors emerged that China may be reconsidering its ban on the trading of cryptocurrencies.
The price, up more than $200 on the previous record high of $6,148.82 one week ago, came following a report published by Coin Telegraph. The report said that following the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, a number of “temporary regulations and policies” were to be canceled, with cryptocurrency trading possibly on the list.
The report also claimed that a new China-based cryptocurrency trading platform called ZB.com has announced that it will be launching on Nov. 1 and will be open to people all over the world, including those in mainland China. The site does exist, describing itself as a “blockchain asset exchange.”
But the launch announcement linked at the bottom of the page results in a 500 Internal Server Error message. Other features on the website do suggest that it is a cryptocurrency exchange complete with a listing of crypto trading pairs along with a link to a trading app, though no feature is currently working.
China banned bitcoin exchanges in September following an earlier ban on initial coin offerings. The government cited similar reasons for banning both: competition to fiat currency, money laundering issues and regulatory concerns. Since that time, rumors have circulated that China may ban the use of cryptocurrencies altogether, resulting in reports that bitcoin miners were selling their hardware ahead of a future ban.
Although the market initially reacted with concern to the Chinese ban, it soon recovered for a variety of reasons, including investors looking to buy into the currency prior to the Bitcoin Gold fork and increasing demand from Japan.
Should the Chinese government overturn its ban on cryptocurrency trading, it would be a boost for global demand. However, with its once highly popular exchanges now shuttered, it wouldn’t be a case of the Chinese market returning overnight.
After hitting $6,306.58, bitcoin settled back to be trading at $6,119.55 as of 10:30 p.m. EDT, following profit-taking by traders looking to make the most of the new record high.
Image: Pixabay
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