The ban on cryptocurrency exchanges doesn't seem to have an effect on China's interest in bitcoin, according to Crypto Slate. Furthermore, it appears that the recent surge and drop in bitcoin prices (including altcoins) may have been helped by trends which the Asian market have been sending along.
The ban in bitcoin was enacted by the Chinese government for the sole purpose that bitcoin has a lot of room for criminal activity to flourish.
The Chinese government made it illegal for mainland Chinese to trade in digital currencies. The ban was also meant for crypto exchanges in the country, especially initial coin offerings (ICO), until a law was in place which required regulatory oversight for funds raised using cryptocurrency.
Owing to the Chinese government's commitment to let their citizens flourish despite the ban, offshore buying of cryptocurrencies weren't banned or made illegal. Cryptocurrency exchanges appeared to have escaped the ban, however, by simply moving servers abroad, according to Scott Freeman, CEO of Chinese-based C2CX.
With that being said, bitcoin's fate still hangs in the balance globally. A price surge had happened and that managed to keep the decline set at $700. However, Forbes reported that right now is a "pivotal time" where equity markets remain jittery while investors are looking for new assets to put their money in--bitcoin included.
Bitcoin has been in a volatile roller-coaster ride as of late. Institutions monitoring its price hikes, such as JP Morgan, had advised that bitcoin prices could level down as low as $1,260; contrary to what everyone was thinking, however, bitcoin stayed level and those who kept their portfolio earned the privilege to see it go up to the tune of a fantastic 149%.
Morgan Stanley, another rating institution, predicted more hard times for cryptocurrency. It is still affected by real-world events, and nothing is more real than the current US-China trade dispute happening right now. As much as currencies in the real world are affected, bitcoin is even more volatile and, if it ever gets affected, could fall down much worse.
Analysts are warning the possibility of this trade spat moving far beyond simple trade imbalances. Even China is wary of this fact, warning its citizens of the economic dangers of working in the US right now. With Trump imposing his "will" on Mexican imports as well, analysts are warily watching how bitcoin will react.
