Winds of change from far east
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Bitcoin price: winds of change from far east
Chinese media have been warming to Bitcoin. Xinhua News Agency praised it during the week as a safe haven asset. Sina Finance added cryptocurrency support to its application.
China’s relationship with cryptocurrencies has long been rocky. Yuan-denominated Bitcoin trading used to comprise the majority of the world’s volume, but that figure is now 1 per cent after a government crackdown.
Trading and organizing initial coin offerings (ICOs) to raise funds are now prohibited. China is mulling a ban on Bitcoin mining as well.
Chinese media are generally propaganda mouthpieces. Xinhua has previously been dismissive of Bitcoin.
If media are warming to Bitcoin, someone up top OKed it. As the former Canadian ambassador to the Asian country says, “In China, there's no coincidence.”
Don’t expect anything to happen overnight — if at all. And we will certainly need more indication than just the moves of two media outlets.
But if change is in the air, that may have a positive impact on price, and this is what its beginning looks like.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency is at $11,211 (C$14,677) as of 1 p.m. Sunday, Eastern Time, up almost 2 per cent for the week. Bitcoin faced another tumultuous seven days, falling below $10,000 on Tuesday before rising to as high as $12,000 two days later.
Canada: Coinsquare eyes conventional ATMs
The biggest Canadian exchange, Toronto’s Coinsquare, has acquired software allowing traditional automated tell machines (ATMs) to sell cryptocurrency, as it tries to foster mainstream adoption.
World: Telegram coin coming to the public
South Korea’s Gram Asia is selling Telegram Messenger’s cryptocurrency at triple the price it paid, beginning July 10. The coin began as one of history’s biggest ever ICOs, and is not yet publicly traded. Popular among cryptocurrency enthusiasts, Telegram plans to offer its coin as a medium of transaction on its own computing platform a la Ethereum.
The Bank for International Settlements, which promotes cooperation among the world’s monetary institutions, is setting up shop to help officials embrace financial technology, as central banks increasingly look not their own digital assets.
The cryptocurrency news website CCN Markets analyzed the font in a document from the legal team of Craig Wright, the Australian who says he created Bitcoin; it concluded the typeface did exist at the time the file was purportedly created. Wright is being sued for allegedly stealing the bitcoins of a former business partner.
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