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US President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to support the cryptocurrency sector could provide a fresh impetus for mainland China to revitalise its digital-asset market, according to an industry veteran, as tech competition between the two countries continue to escalate.
“If the US Congress and the [incoming] president make crypto policies clear, constantly legislate and promote the industry, it would certainly be a driving force for China to accept [cryptocurrencies],” HashKey Group chairman and chief executive Xiao Feng said in an interview with the South China Morning Post last week.
“China perhaps needed five or six years from the present to accept [cryptocurrency businesses] without these events occurring,” he said. “But now, because of these factors, that time frame could be shortened to two years.”
Beijing has maintained a strict ban on initial coin offerings, crypto trading and mining, and other businesses related to cryptocurrency over the past several years, as Chinese authorities consider this field as a threat to financial stability and a breeding ground for criminal activity.
Xiao’s comments reflect the renewed enthusiasm in the cryptocurrency sector after the election win of Trump, who vowed during his campaign to put the US at the centre of the digital-asset industry, including creating a “strategic national bitcoin stockpile” and remove regulators considered as anti-crypto.