BOAO, China, the central bank of China has in the past been highly critical of Bitcoin. However new comments would suggest that they have done a complete u-turn. This marks a remarkable change in tone after a crackdown on cryptocurrency issuance and trading nearly four years ago when we were in the midst of the last bull run.
Industry insiders called the comments “progressive” and are watching closely for any regulatory changes made by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC). These were the few comments that have been made on the matter.
“We regard Bitcoin and stablecoin as crypto-assets … These are investment alternatives,” Li Bo, deputy governor of the PBOC, said on Sunday during a panel hosted by CNBC at the Boao Forum for Asia.
“They are not currency per se. And so the main role we see for crypto assets going forward, the main role is investment alternative.”
These comments are representative of progress and can hopefully be the start of mainstream acceptance of Bitcoin in China. With a population of just under $1.5 billion, the support and adoption of China would have a fundamental impact on the prices and would in turn change the entire landscape of crypto.
It is likely that the bank of China has been greatly influenced by the amount of institutional support that has occurred throughout the world. The most notable examples would be Tesla and Square purchasing a huge amount of Bitcoin. It is also possible that the official listing of Coinbase also raised levels of credibility among crypto skeptics.
