The surge in prices of bitcoin has attracted increased attention from the Internet users in mainland China, where some cryptocurrencyDrug activities persist despite a sweeping government ban.
Bitcoin, the world's largest and most valuable cryptocurrency, has gained more than 16% over the past five days to surpass $59,000 on Wednesday, making it a fast-moving trending topic in every major Chinese media. social networks platforms.
At one point on Wednesday, Bitcoin ranked as the 11th most searched term on microblogging services. Weibo.
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Bitcoin's popularity has also increased by more than 358 percent from a day ago on the Chinese super. application WeChat, according to Tencent Holdings' Official WeChat Index, which tracks keyword traction in in-app searches, videos, live streams and blog posts.
The Chinese government banned banks from handling bitcoin in 2013 and forced cryptocurrency exchanges to move overseas in 2017. In 2021, the country's regulators reiterated a ban on all financial institutions from trading. engage in crypto-related activities. Photo: Shutterstock alt=The Chinese government banned banks from handling bitcoin in 2013 and forced cryptocurrency exchanges to move overseas in 2017. In 2021, the country's regulators reiterated the ban on all financial institutions from engaging in crypto-related activities. Photo: Shutterstock>
This follows a 676% increase in bitcoin popularity on WeChat on February 13, the same day. bitcoin hits the $50,000 mark for the first time in over two years.
Bitcoin has soared 40% since early February after staying below US$30,000 for most of last year, following a crypto market rout in 2022.
Powered by the Bitcoin Spot Exchange Traded Funds Launch in US in January, bitcoin is now trading at its highest level since hitting an all-time high of US$69,000 in November 2021.
Chinese social media's strong interest in rising bitcoin prices reflects how a community of cryptocurrency enthusiasts on the continent continues to thrive, despite Beijing's rigid stance against all crypto-related activity.
Investing in cryptocurrencies has recently become more attractive to some people on the continent, as the country's stock market continues to fall due to its economic woes, according to a Reuters report published in January.
Cryptocurrency trading through a number of major exchanges also remained active in mainland China, with traders resorting to a range of workarounds to circumvent lightly enforced restrictions.
Despite the warnings on its site, Binance allows mainland users to create accounts and trade on the exchange via some workarounds, according to tests carried out by the South China Morning Post.
Yet the Chinese government has increased its scrutiny of all cryptocurrency-related activities over the years, citing risks to financial stability.
Beijing is now combat money laundering risks associated with cryptocurrencieseven though he supports Hong Kong's ambitions to become a major platform for virtual assets.
In research firm Chainalysis's ranking of cryptocurrency adoption in 20 major countries, mainland China took 11th place last year after ranking tenth in 2022.
As mainland China's ranking in terms of trading volume on centralized crypto exchanges fell to 10th place last year after ranking second in 2022, Chainalysis said the country ranked 13th in volume of peer-to-peer exchanges last year, compared to 144th in 2022.
Before Cryptocurrency Exchange FTX collapsed in 2022, merchants from mainland China accounted for 8% of the platform's user base, according to the company's bankruptcy filing.
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