Since 2011, China has played a crucial [1] role in the meteoric rise and fall of Bitcoin. At its peak, China accounted for over 95% of the global Bitcoin trading volume and three quarters of the mining operations. With regulators stepping in to control trading and mining operations, China's dominance has shrunk significantly in exchange for stability.With countries like Korea and India following suit in the crackdown, a shadow is now casted over the future of cryptocurrency. (I shall reiterate my point here: countries are regulating cryptocurrency, not banning it). Without a doubt, we will see more nations join in in the coming months to rein in the tumultuous crypto-market. Indeed, some kind of order was long overdue. Over the past year, cryptocurrencies are experiencing price volatility unheard of and ICOs are happening literally every other day. In 2017, the total market capitalization rose from 18 billion USD in January to an all-time high of 828 billion USD.
Nonetheless, the Chinese community are in surprisingly good spirits despite crackdowns. Online and offline communities are flourishing (I personally have attended quite a few events and visited some of the firms) and blockchain startups are sprouting all over China.Major blockchain firms such as NEO, QTUM and VeChain are getting huge attention in the country. Startups like Nebulas, High Performance Blockchain (HPB) and Bibox are also gaining a fair amount of traction. Even giants such as Alibaba and Tencent are also exploring the capabilities of blockchain to enhance their platform. The list goes on and on but you get me; it's going to be HUGGEE!The Chinese government have also been embracing blockchain technology and have stepped up efforts in recent years to support the creation of a blockchain ecosystem.
In China's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020), it called for the development of promising technologies including blockchain and artificial intelligence. It also plans to strengthen research on the application of fintech in regulation, cloud computing and big data. Even the People's Bank of China is also testing a prototype blockchain-based digital currency; however, with it likely to be a centralized digital currency slapped with some encryption technology, its adoption by the Chinese citizens remains to be seen.