Nineteen months after the Chinese government prohibited any and all crypto-related activities, it's becoming increasingly clear that Chinese investors remain committed to the digital asset industry. Although the Chinese ban was intended to limit investments in cryptocurrency, it has been largely ineffective in curbing the interest of an investor demographic that has been turning to digital assets as a new asset class due to disappointing returns from traditional investments, like bonds, stocks and property.

According to a recent Bloomberg report, evidence of the on-going Chinese interest in cryptocurrencies comes from data released by American crypto exchange FTX, which showed 8% of its debt were sourced from Chinese customers prior to it going bankrupt in November 2020. Additionally, citizens have spoken of using crypto platforms and representatives of the industry have detailed workarounds to get around the ban.

The Chinese ban was introduced to combat money laundering, control currency outflow and stem the alleged environmental damage caused by Bitcoin mining. And, as is to be expected, enforcing the ban has proven to be a Herculean task considering cryptocurrencies decentralized structure and the sheer fact that they can be exchanged peer-to-peer and traded on global exchanges open to all.

The Chinese government have not yet made any indications that the ban will be lifted, however should the regulation towards digital assets be overturned in the near future, it's expected that the demand for digital currencies would skyrocket. This is because the Chinese market has both the investor appetite, financial muscle and technical skills to become a major, global player in the crypto industry.



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