Bitcoin has swung wildly this week as U.S. president Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump were warned there’s “only one way to save the dollar.”
The bitcoin price has topped its previous all-time high in recent months—climbing above $70,000 per bitcoin, helping the ethereum price to triple and Ripple’s XRP to add almost 50% since their 2022 lows—as Ripple’s chief executive issues an “inevitable” new crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF) prediction after the success of Wall Street’s spot bitcoin ETFs.
Now, with the Federal Reserve quietly admitting that gold is replacing the U.S. dollar, bitcoin and crypto investor Brock Pierce has said it’s only a matter of time before China reopens its digital doors to crypto after its 2021 crackdown crashed the bitcoin price.
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China’s president Xi Jinping has overseen a bitcoin and crypto crackdown in China that’s weighed on … [+]
“Is China going to open up [to crypto]? … I’d say it’s inevitable,” Pierce, a former child actor who cofounded the USDT dollar-pegged stablecoin issuer Tether in Hong Kong a decade ago, told the South China Morning Post. “The question is not so much if, it’s a matter of when.”
Pierce, who is also chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, teased a new Hong Kong-based venture to the SCMP, saying he’s “enthusiastic about what’s happening in Hong Kong,” a special administrative region of China that has recent green lit a handful of spot bitcoin and ethereum ETFs, following in Wall Street’s footsteps.
Last month, attendees of a Hong Kong bitcoin conference sparked speculation the much-hyped Hong Kong spot bitcoin ETFs could eventually be opened up to mainland China investors.
“I think Hong Kong is ahead in many ways,” Pierce said. “I think the main opportunity in Hong Kong is in [traditional finance], and that’s where a Hong Kong digital dollar stablecoin has tremendous potential.”
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The bitcoin price has rocketed higher over the last year, boosting the wider ethereum, XRP and … [+]
Pierce added that China’s supply chain advantage means “there’s clearly a very big opportunity that exists [in Hong Kong].”
This week, there were further signs Hong Kong and China are gradually warming back up to bitcoin and crypto, with Dubai-based crypto exchange Bybit announcing it will allow Chinese nationals living overseas to open accounts and trade crypto.
“Bybit, one of the world’s top three crypto exchanges by volume, is pleased to announce the expansion of our service offerings to the overseas Chinese community,” the company said in a statement. “This move is in response to the growing demand for secure, reliable, and user-friendly cryptocurrency trading platforms among Chinese expatriates and international Chinese communities.”
