Bitcoin and other top cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum and XRP, have become highly volatile in the past few weeks. In what Fortune magazine called an ‘extreme fear’ outlook, it is possible that their valuations are going down even further. Bitcoin, for example, has fallen nearly 20 per cent in the past month after a warning from the US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell. On top of this, tech entrepreneurs such as the Tron blockchain founder Justin Sun believe that China will soon bring legal victory to the crypto community that, once achieved, will open the door for crypto to regain legitimacy and resumption of activity from Mainland China.
The final placement of a paid ad for Justin Sun’s victory against the Chongqing Business Media Group in court last month. Courtesy of Blockworks.Image courtesy of BlockworksJustin Sun’s recent victory in court, a monumental win for the crypto community, was enough for him to place a paid ad in Blockworks. (This shaped up as his second giant headline in recent weeks.) In March, The Verge reported that ahead of Tron’s estimated 10 billion-dollar (USD) private token sale to Justin Sun in 2017, his company began buying up Tron at market rates, effectively inflating the price. This, along with an FBI investigation into Justin Sun’s involvement, were the primary charges against him. In the Blockworks ad, he wrote: ‘This marks a historical milestone that once again proves my innocence and will set the stage for new developments by the government which allows people to embrace the blockchain industry.’ In addition to this, Chinese regulatory bodies have been consistently accepting cryptocurrency. China seems to be making signals that cryptocurrency is now back on their radar. Additionally, there’s speculation that Hong Kong’s spot bitcoin ETFs might soon be available for mainland Chinese investors. Chinese investors have long harboured an inexplicable love for bitcoin, and Chinese ETFs represent the most significant step for China in their reacceptance of cryptocurrency. A lot of the discussion took place at a bitcoin conference in Hong Kong.
Others like Brock Pierce, a US crypto billionaire and former child actor in the movie The Mighty Ducks (1992), have wagered that it’s only a matter of time before China returns to crypto, pointing to China’s previous regulatory restrictions on the market leading to a ‘giant buyout’ that crashed the cryptocurrency market in 2021. Global crypto enthusiasts are observers to this changing landscape in China. They are keeping a close eye on how the shifting alliances, regulations and statements about crypto will affect both domestic and global market dynamics and crypto inclusion strategies in the region.
Source: Forbes