China Softens On Crypto, Central Bank: Bitcoin Is An Investment Alternative

China's central bank says cryptocurrency is an alternative investment (Bitcoin News)

JAKARTA - The Chinese government has begun to open up to crypto money. The sign of the softening of the government was expressed by the central bank of China, the People Bank of China (PBoC) said that Bitcoin is an "alternative investment".

The statement was made by PboC Deputy Governor, Li Bo, at an online Baoa Forum for Asia event on Sunday, April 18. The forum was hosted by CNBC International, Tuesday, April 20

"We consider bitcoin and stablecoins to be crypto-assets ... these are investment alternatives", said Li Bo.

“They are not the currency in itself. So the role that we see for crypto assets in the future, the main role is that of investment alternatives", he added.

"Many countries, including China, are still observing and thinking about what kind of regulatory requirements. Maybe minimal, but we need to have some sort of regulation to prevent ... such asset speculation and to prevent serious risks to financial stability", said Li Bo.

Previously, the Bamboo Curtain country was a country that had the largest bitcoin transactions in the world. In 2017, the Chinese government issued a regulation prohibiting the issuance of new coins.

After the ban, they also closed cryptocurrency exchange platforms in China. At that time, the Chinese government was worried about financial stability.

When the Deputy Governor of the PBoC issued a statement leaning towards crypto-money, the statement was seen as a change in the Xi Jinping government's attitude towards cryptocurrency.

Flex Yang as CEO of Babel Finance said that the statement had a "progressive" tone. Also, the head of cryptocurrency exchange Luno said that China's current attitude is different from before.

"I think this is quite significant and clearly different from their previous statement or position on public cryptocurrencies", said Vijay Ayyar as Luno.

“The government realizes that Bitcoin is a viable and well-established asset class, but it is growing, and needs to regulate it. China's governing script will be another big boost for the industry in China and globally".