China banned cryptocurrency trading and initial coin offerings (ICO) at the end of 2017 and reaffirmed its negative position on the market this year. Yet, local developers continue to introduce innovative blockchain projects on the global stage.

Stricter Punishment

In 2018, the Chinese cryptocurrency industry and the market saw a more severe crackdown on the cryptocurrency trade. local government and the People's Bank of China (PBoC), the country's central bank. In early February, the Chinese government began blocking Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency websites through its "Great Firewall", thus preventing anyone in the country from accessing Bitcoin trading and trading platforms. digital assets.

Sites and related platforms have signaled their intention to essentially reject any cryptocurrency activity in the country, as the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) is against the law Chinese

"Foreign transactions and regulatory evasion have resumed. The risks are still there, fueled by the illegal issuance, and even the fraudulent and pyramid selling, "said the independent information publication of the PBoC

On March 6, 2018, the One of Caixin's largest Chinese media closed the cryptocurrency trading accounts on WeChat, the most widely used social media platform in China.The OKEX social media account, the most world's largest currency exchange market with a daily trading volume of $ 1.7 billion, was closed

Chinese exchanges flourish

Despite the strict crackdown on the cryptocurrency trade and Blockchain related platforms, Chinese cryptocurrency exchanges like OKEX and Huobi have continued to flourish in recent months, trading over $ 1 billion a day.

<img alt=" OKEx "src = "https: // cointeleg raph .com / storage / uploads / view / b95f88b38b23f5f80fd3f035d78c6fb8.png "title =" OKEx "/>

Source of the image: Coinmarketcap

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<img alt=" Huobi "src =" https://cointelegraph.com/storage/uploads/view/8b24b64b2c3fdfea3fefbfcad6e81c08.png "title =" Huobi "/>

Source Image: Coinmarketcap

Huobi and OKEX, formerly two of the largest exchanges of cryptocurrency in China this market before the ban by the government of the negotiation Cryptocurrency, relocated immediately after the ban on cryptocurrency trading was imposed in October 2017 in Hong Kong to serve both Chinese investors and international traders. Almost immediately following the migration of the two exchanges to Hong Kong, Huobi and OKCoin experienced a massive increase in the volume and demand of daily transactions.

In March 2018, OKEX, OKCoin's virtual currency trading platform, for the first time overtook Binance, formerly the largest stock exchange in the market.

<img alt=" OKEx, Binance "src =" https://cointelegraph.com/storage/uploads/view/ec73e7c4b621e9b3b4a5748827937856.png "title =" OKEx, Binance "/>

Image Source: Coinmarketcap

The relocation of Huobi and OKEx from China to Hong Kong opened a gateway to Chinese merchants from crypto-currency.

In October 2017, Bitide TideBit trader Terence Tsang said:

"The ban did not prevent them [Chinese investors] from … 39, buy cryptocurrencies. In recent weeks, we have seen many mainland customers open an account at TideBit. They still want to play the game. I see a growing need in that they will come to Hong Kong or Singapore to buy cryptocurrency.

Tsang added that the explosive growth rate of the Hong Kong cryptocurrency market fueled by the migration of investors from Hong Kong's local cryptocurrency exchanges rose to a fast pace, as evidenced by the rise of OKEX and Huobi

However, as reported Cointelegraph, many Blockchain projects, contractors, investors and analysts have been cautious. events, conferences and meetings due to the unpredictability of the Chinese government and its tendency to ban everything it regards as a threat to its current financial system.

Leonhard Weese, founder of the Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong

"People in China will pay more attention to the marketing of these events, and much of this marketing activity will come to Hon g Kong in the form of conferences and communities. "

Hype Intensifies

In January 2018, PBoC went as far as to ask banks to 39 Inspect the accounts of cryptocurrency merchants and ensure that bank accounts are not used for trading.

"Each bank and branch must perform a self-inspection and rectification from today onwards.The cryptocurrency trading service is strictly prohibited.Effective measures should be taken to prevent payment channels from being used for the settlement of cryptocurrencies, "said the central bank.

While the Chinese government ordered banks to stop funding cryptocurrencies Technology and cryptocurrency have not dematerialized. In fact, China-based cryptocurrencies have begun to see an increase in demand, and local conglomerates have begun to form partnerships with foreign blockchain projects.

Retail and blockchain

China's most influential distributor on JD.com announced the creation of the AI ​​Catapult Blockchain Incubation Program, intended to fund innovative Blockchain projects and crypto-currencies. JD.com said in a statement:

"[JD.com plans to] partner with innovative blockchain start-ups to build new businesses and create and test real-world applications of their technologies on a scale. We are excited to be working with some of the world's most innovative start-ups to explore ways to expand these leading-edge technologies for the future of retail and other industries. "

Bowen Zhou, Vice President of JD.com The projects within the company's Blockchain Incubator will have the opportunity to test their technologies and integrate their Blockchain platform into JD.com's existing infrastructure

One of the Blockchain projects with which it has partnered is Bluzelle, a Singapore-based Blockchain, which targets the deployment of the company's infrastructure. Decentralized Internet Bluzelle, known for its technology ssaim, which allows groups of nodes to store tiny pieces of information, has already built blockchain-based applications for many large global conglomerates such as Microsoft, HSBC, MUFG, KPMG and ZagBank.

Focusing on the scale of JD.com's operations in China, Bluzelle's CEO wrote:

"JD.com is the largest Chinese retailer, online or offline and the third largest company by revenue With more than 266 million active customers, JD is a direct seller of millions of brands worldwide and hosts a market of more than 160,000 merchants The company, which owns and operates its own advanced national logistic systems, has adopted the AI ​​and the blockchain through its operations. "

NEO

Crypto Chinese currency NEO, which is recognized as China's Ethereum and remains as the only major cryptocurrency to be developed in China, has also seen a dramatic increase in its market valuation. In January 2018, NEO's market valuation peaked at $ 10.5 billion, which is higher than the current market capitalization of Cardano, the sixth-largest market cryptocurrency.

<img alt=" NEO Charts "src =" https: / /cointelegraph.com/storage/uploads/view/b61a05cba79abd903410b2a83d77b407.png "title =" NEO Cards "/>

Source of the & # 39; Image: Coinmarketcap

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Crypto is all but dead in China

Overall, despite the efforts of the Chinese government to completely stop the cryptocurrency and Blockchain-relat projects, the demand for Blockchain technology in the local market continues to increase, and large conglomerates like JD .com could be int strained by the development and commercialization of cryptocurrencies.

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