Bybit opens registration to users from China, a market of millions of investors
Key facts:
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In 2021, China banned cryptocurrency trading and exchange.
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Residents of Hong Kong, the United States, Cuba and other countries remain blocked from accessing it.
In 2021, the People’s Bank of China, that country’s central financial institution, banned cryptocurrencies in its jurisdiction. Any citizen or business that carried out transactions would be engaging in illegal activity and would be punished according to the laws.
For this reason, it was a great surprise that today, June 5, 2024, The bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency exchange, Bybit, will once again open the registration option to citizens and residents of China. Not only that, but on its Terms and Conditions page, China is no longer listed among the countries with restricted access to the exchange’s operations (although the United States, Cuba, Iran and, strikingly, Hong Kong, a territory special administration of China).
“China is a sleeping giant,” said trader and investor Willy Woo, upon learning of this news. The thing is, With a population of more than 1.4 billion people, the Asian nation represents a gigantic potential market. If its inhabitants could freely access bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, they would have a great impact on the supply and demand of these financial assets.
Journalist Colin Wu comments that “the number of Chinese users may reach tens of millions” and adds – although he does not mention his source – that “Bybit’s move has also caused panic among internal employees.”
On why Bybit continues to ban users from Hong Kong, Wu says:
«Bybit previously withdrew its license application for Hong Kong. Hong Kong does not allow any entity to do business in mainland China. This also means that Bybit may stop applying for a Hong Kong license. Currently, Bybit is headquartered in Dubai.
Colin Wu, journalist.
So far it is unknown if the change is due to any modification of the laws in force in China in relation to digital assets.
