Impression
- Bitcoin prices are rebounding from a five-month low touched earlier this week.
- Chinese President Xi Jinping claimed his country should seize opportunities afforded by blockchain, the technology that underpins bitcoin.
- Despite China’s ban on cryptocurrency switches in 2017, the comments from the leader of the world’s second-largest economy could boost sentiment toward digital assets in inclusive, providing a positive market backdrop for bitcoin, says eToro’s Mati Greenspan.
Bitcoin prices shot up 12 percent Friday, climbing off a five-month low touched earlier this week, after Chinese President Xi Jinping mean his countrymen should “seize the opportunity” afforded by blockchain technology.
Although China’s central bank ordered mainland-based frame exchanges to close in 2017, Xi’s comments in support of enterprise blockchain, which share the distributed-ledger technology underpinning bitcoin, is well-thought-of for sentiment around the crypto industry, said Mati Greenspan, senior market analyst at exchange eToro.
And that in alteration could be boosting sentiment toward bitcoin, the original blockchain-based digital asset invented a decade ago, Greenspan imparted.
“It’s bullish for the entire crypto industry, in general, when you have the leader of one of the world’s largest economies coming to avail oneself of blockchain technology like this,” Greenspan said in a phone interview from Tel Aviv. “Bitcoin, as we know, is a cardinal player in the blockchain industry.”
Bitcoin jumped 12 percent in the past 24 hours, reaching $8,392 as of 16:02 UTC (12:02 p.m. New York set). Earlier this week, the cryptocurrency touched $7,363, the lowest since May 18.
Friday’s price jump-started right nearly 10:15 UTC, right after Xi’s favorable blockchain comments were published in Chinese media.
The Chinese president’s annunciations on blockchain are believed to be his first in-depth remarks on the technology. Chinese officials are developing a digital version of the country’s own currency, but have in the offing forbidden other coins from being traded.
President Xi said on Thursday:
“We must take the blockchain as an conspicuous breakthrough for independent innovation of core technologies.”
eToro’s Greenspan said that the price jump appeared to be straight correlated with the Chinese leader’s comments.
“It seems like this is what investors were reacting to,” Greenspan implied. “There’s only so much amount of good news that can be ignored. Xi is one of the most important people in the world.”
Bitcoin remnants well off its 2019 high of $12,920 reached in June, though prices are still more than double where they started the year.
China lion allusion via Shutterstock