Chinese Government Starting to Buy Bitcoin?

[pliv84]

Interesting rumor: the Chinese government has started to buy up Bitcoin as a hedge against global Bitcoin adoption.

Even if it is not true today, it is actually kind of believable as a possibility for the future. As Bitcoin continues to gain traction, there has to eventually be a tipping point at which the governments of the world will say "Oh shit! This is for real. We need to own some of this before it's too late!"


Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/3qmtbp/bitcoin_just_hit_2000_yuan/

[–]johnnycoin 8 points 6 hours ago
"My very well connected friend from Shanghai says that there is a rumor in China that a few very very big chinese officials/businessmen/oligarchs are currently playing a very dangerous/fascinating game buying bitcoin. Speculation is that there is government influence in purchasing a majority of all bitcoins in the next five years to hedge against global Bitcoin adoption. Apparently, the government is behind some of the mining operations in China actually funding them and providing free power, and some Chinese officials think that it is smart to act now while the rest of the world is sleeping on this sea change in finance."

[RustyNomad]

I will not put it past the Chinese government to get involved in bitcoin in some or other way.

If this is the case we should see a steadily increasing price in the months to come. That is unless they start buying in large quantities but I doubt it as that will push the price up too quickly. The other risk involved in something like this is that they can try and push the price down by dumping and re-buying i.e. pumping and dumping.

[prodigy8]

If that information is true then i understand now why the price has starting to be increased.
If they start to use bitcoin i think that 14Million that are currently mined aren't enough.
Or the price of the bitcoin will increase way too much maybe x10

[SerenaL]

They think that they will sway the market but I doubt that they will hoard anywhere near the amount that early adopters have.

[Bitcoin Market]

It is baseless rumour. If the Chinese government starts buying bitcoin, the price will be $500 already, it will not be just $300. The volume in China should be discounted by 95%.

[unamis76]

Pretty interesting theory, but there's got to be more news than just a price bump and someone saying he knows someone well connected for me to believe in this. That being said I definitely don't think it's impossible that the government isn't somewhat involved... It's pretty odd that a nation that isn't widely known for being Bitcoin friendly is allowing so many high powered farms and nodes to be online.

I also guess we'd have to reach an extreme tipping point in fiat currencies for a government to show proof that he is indeed invested in cryptocurrencies, otherwise this will only be a backstage game.

[tiggytomb]

If China are on board this can be good news for the price

[harrymmmm]

Pretty interesting theory, but there's got to be more news than just a price bump and someone saying he knows someone well connected for me to believe in this. That being said I definitely don't think it's impossible that the government isn't somewhat involved... It's pretty odd that a nation that isn't widely known for being Bitcoin friendly is allowing so many high powered farms and nodes to be online.

I also guess we'd have to reach an extreme tipping point in fiat currencies for a government to show proof that he is indeed invested in cryptocurrencies, otherwise this will only be a backstage game.

I understood there were very few nodes in China. Mines, sure.
It's an interesting thought that they are being funded by government masters....I always figured just some corruption payouts for cheap electricity.

[ROT13]

Like any other technology I'd be very surprised if at least one government isn't actively involved in using it to achieve their international political ends.

[Betwrong]

If that information is true then i understand now why the price has starting to be increased.
If they start to use bitcoin i think that 14Million that are currently mined aren't enough.
Or the price of the bitcoin will increase way too much maybe x10

I hope you are right. But I personally doubt that the price may increase tenfold. It might for some time though, but it will drop then to $500 around a year or so.

[Bitcoininspace]

I will not put it past the Chinese government to get involved in bitcoin in some or other way.

If this is the case we should see a steadily increasing price in the months to come. That is unless they start buying in large quantities but I doubt it as that will push the price up too quickly. The other risk involved in something like this is that they can try and push the price down by dumping and re-buying i.e. pumping and dumping.

I doubt governments are going to start gambling with their money now...

[sgbett]

duplicate thread https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1229224.0

[Mickeyb]

I don't know about this I find this hard to believe. So are they buying just to profit and not to be left out of the movement or they are buying to screw Bitcoin up and to screw its adoption? I didn't quite get it.

If they are buying not to be left out and to be in advantage over other governments then it's a moon time!

[QUEDOS]

With digital currencies in general, there are questions that can be asked which will often lead to answers that run contrary to the rooted belief systems of libertarians, anarchists and etc.

the federal reserve and the bank of england have painted themselves into a corner with 0% and 0.5% interest rates. They are, in all senses of the word, incapable of lifting interest rates because even the slightest rate hike would unleash financial hell on a GLOBAL scale.

I'd be surprised if every government in the world doesn't have at least some form of an active 'pro-bitcoin' strategy

[harrymmmm]

I'd be surprised if every government in the world doesn't have at least some form of an active 'pro-bitcoin' strategy

Sure. I would expect a bitcoin strategy that follows their strategy for gold and precious metals. Bitcoin is still young, but it's proven itself in the pinches a few times now.
'Course some of them don't have that backup strategy at all, like the USA I think. They have different options.

[rudrigorc2]

china mining makes more sense, and they are probably doing it since the first public asic

[Q7]

That could potentially explain why the price is moving up these few days. Based on what you've said, I can imagine they could even get themselves involved directly in the mining process and instead of dumping the coins in the open market they are keeping all the mined coins. They could even cooperate with the existing mining farms and operate like joint ventures.

[solid12345]

China has been buying up gold and silver, why not Bitcoin? They may be a dictatorship but they aren't stupid, they want to succeed and become the world power.

I personally just find it hard to believe a communist dictatorship would allow these huge mining farms and unregulated exchanges to operate under their nose with free electricity if they weren't secretly blessing it.

I wouldn't be shocked if the "China ban" fears last year was a deliberate attempt to shake out weak hands in the west.

Also don't think for a second that an authoritarian government can't find some uses in a public ledger...

[semaforo]

Well the dollar is overvalued considering US debt, trade deficit, and rate of economic growth, and China has huge amounts of dollar denominated debt as well as dollar reserves. Russia and China have both been trying to depose the dollar as the world reserve currency for a while, but China has to be careful because they would by doing so devalue their own wealth. That is why Chinese have been buying up so much real estate in the US, to avoid being overexposed to the dollar. Chinese gold reserves have also been steadily increasing over the last decade, and purchasing bitcoin makes sense in this same vein, whether by individuals or the government. Of course, the influence of the state is pretty pervasive in China so if people are doing something it is quite likely the state is involved in some way.

[crazyivan]

Bah, just another Reddit rumor.

Chinese population is buying BTC, the largest volume s on two Chinese exchanges, especially compared to a few months ago. Government, no way.