The Chinese authorities have given the cryptocurrency exchanges until the end of September to cease and clear their operations out of China. The deadline has been extended until the 30th of October for OKCoin and Huobi, which are two of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. The Chinese authorities initially banned ICOs and then requested the exchanges and trading platforms to stop their operations.
Due to China’s decision to stop cryptocurrency trading, the traders have moved their stakes out of the country and into other countries where the regulations are looser. The countries which have seen a significant increase in cryptocurrency trading due to the crackdown by Chinese authorities include Japan and South Korea. The former now accounts for more than 51% of the total market share of bitcoin exchange market from all over the globe. Whereas, South Korea’s Bithumb now processes more volume of bitcoin than Bitfinex and Bittrex combined.
The shift in South Korea can be credited to its recent legalization of bitcoin in the country. More and more merchants are accepting bitcoin as a form of payment in the country.
The bitcoin traders are not waiting around for the deadline and have moved their operations out of China and into Japan, reducing the China’s market share from 15% to 7% in just three days. Chinese officials have claimed that the ban on ICOs and cryptocurrency is temporary and will soon be lifted, but if the ban is kept too long then the crypto market of China may be irrevocably changed.
Cryptocurrency’s flexibility
The amiability of which the cryptocurrency market has shifted to other countries, after it got banned in one country, is an avid description of its flexibility. Due to its decentralized nature, the cryptocurrency market cannot be completely banned by any government and controlling it can be an arduous task for them. Therefore, numerous countries all over the globe are embracing the cryptocurrency market, rather than acting against it. Many thought that the cryptocurrency market may fall after China took action against it and banned the operations in the country. However, the ban simply strengthened the belief of crypto-philes about bitcoin; it is remarkably flexible and easy to work with.