TL;DR: The avowed communist government once thought notoriously hostile to Bitcoin specifically and cryptocurrency generally is beginning to make significant strides in something like a long, slow embrace. The latest anecdotal example is China state-run media publishing a column titled, “Bitcoin: The First Successful Application of Blockchain Technology.”



China State-Media Features Bitcoin

The 11th edition: Economic Weekly·Financial Circle ran a column in its Group Digital Newspapers, which include Xinhua Daily, Yangzi Evening News, Rural Cadres, Nanjing Morning News, Jiangsu Economic News, and Jiangsu Legal News. The columnist is Luo Hanhan, and its loosely, Google-translated title is Reluctant.

That’s a pretty great way, actually, to describe China’s relationship with Bitcoin. The government effectively banned cryptocurrency exchanges, and has vigorously hunted initial coin offering (ICO) schemes. The combination surely forced the growing phenomenon underground and offshore, to the East and onto economic refuges like Hong Kong.

Mainland Chinese appetite for cryptocurrency, however, was simply not to be denied. Some wags and pundits familiar with the 1.4 billion nation continued to insist China’s government was only being prudent, careful with regard to new financial technology. Court cases seemed to buttress that notion, as at least two affirmed Bitcoin to be property. Mining in the country has also been strong and innovative. Blockchain even has its own official rating system. More recently, China’s President lauded the topic.

The latest round of proof involves Hanhan’s column over the weekend, which uses the words Bitcoin and successful in the same headline. He calls the digital asset “undoubtedly one of the hottest topics in recent years,” and openly wonders if it is an “inevitable trend of future currency development.” Hanhan gives a brief overview of what this new tech involves, and it’s a fairly accurate and bare-bones. The obligatory reference to criminality is made alongside worries about the environmental impacts of mining, and volatility is given its dutiful nod. All in all, it is a first, mostly positive profile about a decade in the making, and most observers believe it is preparing the populace for a state-backed China crypto iteration in the future.

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