“Chinese banks write love letters to bitcoin and Ethereum”: VanEck executive

While the ban on cryptocurrency transactions, commerce and mining has continued in China for three years, the country’s large banks praise its value.

The world’s largest bank, ICBC, which belongs to the Chinese state, published an optimistic institutional report on digital currencies last week. It maintains that they allow financial inclusion, security and payment efficiency. Also says that bitcoin (BTC) has better attributes than gold and that Ethereum in the future is “digital oil”.

“Chinese state banks continue to write love letters to Bitcoin and Ethereum,” commented Matthew Sigel, who is a director of the American company that issues digital asset funds VanEck. According to his sources, he added that the Chinese investment bank CITICS is preparing a report similar to that of ICBC.

This comes two months after the launch of bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) was authorized in Hong Kong. This autonomous administrative region of China has established various regulations in recent years that enable the growth of the cryptocurrency industry.

With this scenario, China may be testing market development in Hong Kong and under pressure to lift restrictions on the industry. For the co-founder of Tether, the issuing company of the largest stablecoin, Brock Pierce, it is a matter of time before this happens. “It’s inevitable,” he considered.

List of crypto-friendly banks changes

Currently, there are Chinese banks that do not publicly show interest in the cryptocurrency market, despite having carried out research in this technology before the restrictions. Among them are China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China and Bank of China, which are the largest in the world after ICBC.

A report from the data firm CoinGecko indicated a year ago that 74% of the world’s 50 largest banks support cryptocurrency trading. Of those that don’t, according to the list below, most are from China, including ICBC, which could switch to the other group with its recent optimistic view of the market.

In the midst of this context, Giant banks from other parts of the world have invested in bitcoin this year through currency ETFs launched in the United States. As CriptoNoticias reported, some of them are JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley.

These movements, amid growing institutional demand with the launch of ETFs, have contributed to the rise of bitcoin. Currently trading around $67,000 (USD), the currency is up 60% so far in 2024, which could motivate China to take an open stance on the market.