China made the right decision in banning ICOs and running cryptocurrency exchanges out of the country, said People’s Bank of China deputy governor Pan Gongsheng on the weekend. Bitcoin will soon suffer a fatal hack or face global bans, he predicted — though cryptocurrency markets largely ignored his remarks.
Harsh Words but Is Anyone Still Listening? The response — or lack thereof — was a sign of how dramatically the digital asset environment has changed in 2017. There was once a time when such harsh comments by a PBOC official would have kicked the BTC price down a few notches. However it seems the market has long since priced in China’s negativity — and now ignores it completely.
When China banned fundraising via initial coin offerings (ICOs) in September, the bitcoin price dropped from around $4,500 to just below $3,000. It didn’t last — with a few hiccups it has mostly risen ever since, and now sits above $11,000 at press time.
China’s government deliberately tried to crash bitcoin’s price with ambiguous regulations as a way to discourage speculation, claimed BTCC’s Bobby Lee in October. Ultimately, the efforts were in vain and regulators implemented more direct measures.
That’s not to say Pan is wrong. His prediction of a burst bubble could very well come true at some point, just as it did for 90s dotcom mania in 2000. But if the crash comes, it will likely have the similar effect of clearing out the unworthy while leaving an infrastructure for future revolutions.
Chinese Bitcoin Companies Moving to UK, Elsewhere. Even the Chinese companies that once dominated cryptocurrency trading have smelled the coffee, realizing there’s little future for them in their homeland. For the past few months, even longer, they’ve been moving their operations, staff and expertise to friendlier jurisdictions.
Source is here...Whatever negative comments from Chinese authorities are now completely ignored because that's the way it should be. Why should we care for a government that is so afraid of its own shadow? The cryptocurrency movement has shown that it can all survive and prosper without the China market though we know that many Chinese are still into Bitcoin because they know how to evade the surveillance power of the government and they can go to Hong Kong where cryptocurrency is alive and kicking. One thing is now sure: We don't need China much as China does not us!
