Recent Bitcoin price behavior, due to the happenings in China, has raised the question of whether the digital currency can survive without the support of the world’s largest country where a majority of its related activities are considered to be taking place.
However, insiders’ views and a keen look at the turn of events show that China has presented the world with an exemplary opportunity to make the Bitcoin market less dependent on it.
There have been talks about a regulatory framework in the making not just in China but other parts of the world. The debate has started on how far a government can go to ban Bitcoin use in its jurisdiction. The recent drop in Bitcoin price has also encouraged a somewhat form of redistribution of wealth as some reports say the low price of Bitcoin made it possible for some new users in countries in India, South America and parts of Africa to lay their hands on the coins.
From cash to cashless
In short, it demonstrates that when governments can't make something illegal, they bring it into their fold. It has seemed friendlier to embrace Bitcoin in the United States, European Union, China, Russia and Japan.
Countries now tend to see the opportunities Bitcoin presents to them to meet the needs of a growing middle class and those people moving from cash to cashless.
Note it is not a single nation that has gotten involved. Though China still has the upper hand in terms of the early adoption, several countries are getting involved in Bitcoin related activities going be new information emerging with time.
China’s dominance does not translate to control
According to the COO of Remitsy and organizer of Beijing Bitcoin Meetup, Neil Woodfine, China’s huge trade volume has been misleading and the country’s dominance in Bitcoin mining does not translate to control. He also argued that thinking in terms of nation-states does not work when it comes to Bitcoin.
Woodfine states that Bitcoin’s value proposition is too great to just disappear even in the worst-case scenario that Chinese exchanges were closed down, or Chinese traders got bored and moved onto another hyped asset.
For the CEO of DECENT, Matej Michalko, told Cointelegraph on China’s perceived grip on the entire crypto-world:
“We can only speculate. The truth is, China’s crypto-market seems rapidly developing, no one can deny that. However, Bitcoin is a global currency, not dependent on the single economy, no matter how powerful it is. China’s willingness to put effort on Bitcoin trading should encourage other countries to adapt their legislature in favor of a more flexible approach to cryptocurrencies. We have to evolve our business and move past the early 2000s decade. It doesn’t mean opening doors completely and not setting any meaningful rules. We have to acknowledge cryptocurrencies as an equal alternative to fiats.”