Bitcoin(BTC)trade has made the headline on Xinhua, the People’s Republic of China’s national publication. The state-sponsored news outlet featured an article which was titled ‘Bitcoin: The First Successful Application of Blockchain Technology.’ The piece has been circulating on social media platforms such as Twitter, as members of the crypto community shared it around.
Matthew Graham, CEO of Sino Global Capital was one the first people to notice the article and posted it on Twitter with image of the front page of the newspaper.
In spite of first impression, the article is not entirely supportive of Bitcoin, and according to the translation of the piece, it opens by stating that Bitcoin is not a tangible currency, and that unlike fiat currency, which is produced and supported by the country’s laws and regulation, Bitcoin is solely operational over the internet.
Previously, China has notably discouraged the involvement of its citizens from investing and possessing digital assets, hence the negative traits listed about Bitcoin were not unexpected. Nevertheless, a featured article on the front page of the China’s wildly recognized outlet about Bitcoin could aid millions of citizens in looking into cryptocurrency and what it offers.
Bitcoin’s Anonymity: The Good and Bad
The article further goes into detailing the workings of blockchain technology. It lightly explores the subject of cryptocurrency, how mining works, consensus and halving. The article states characteristics of Bitcoin, noting that it provides good anonymity. It talks about how the identity of those involved in transactions will not be known and that people can utilize Bitcoin to freely transfer money without the need to provide information of identity that is otherwise required in money transfers using traditional banks.
However, the article then quickly uses this characteristic to talk about its negative consequences, claiming that Bitcoin is now being widely used for transactions pertaining to illicit activities such as ‘black market’ transactions.
They also warned about the unpredictable fluctuations in price, stating that since Bitcoin is all electronic data that is not linked to real currency and physical assets, it can be difficult to predict the pattern and ensure the stability of its monetary value.
Nevertheless, the timing of the article suggests that the country is slowly incorporating a positive outlook at Bitcoin. Last week,Bitcoin mining, among the list of industries that National Development and Reform commission (NDRC) was planning to crack down on was removed from the official list. President Xi Jinping also endorsed the development of blockchain technology weeks ago.
What do you think about the article?
