Bitcoin bulls on the run, as value charges through the US$2,000 barrier
Trading volume in China down to 12 per cent of global aggregate, from 80 per cent last year due to tighter regulations
Bitcoin, the world’s most-popular cryptocurrency, has surged to US$$2,168 per coin, and is still rising, after soared more than 65 per cent in the past month, fueled by rising demand and speculation.
Its price here reaching 14,180 yuan (US$2,058) per coin on Monday, almost twice its January low value of around 4,092 yuan.
“The latest bitcoin bull run has little to do with China, as trading activities have been largely curbed after China’s central bank banned leveraged trading on the coins, while urging trading platforms to charge trading fees [since the start of the year],” said Xiao Lei, a bitcoin expert and chief analyst with online gold trading platform, G-banker.
Volumes in China now account for less than 12 per cent of all global bitcoin trading, down from 80 per cent a year ago, according to research report issued by Huobi, one of China’s top three bitcoin trading platform.
Leveraged trading and speculation in China fueled a global bitcoin rally in 2016, but the market crashed at the turn of the year, as the trading price of the virtual currency plunging 40 per cent to below 5,000 yuan in just a few hours, after lunch on January 5.
