Tightening China’s Cryptocurrency Regulations Is Not New Development, Asserts HSBC Director

According to Paul Mackel, HSBC‘s research director, the pursuit for tighter cryptocurrency regulations in China is not a new thing. This research head said this after Liu He, China’s Vice Premier, was quoted saying that China’s financial systems needed to be protected by putting tight cryptocurrency measures and regulations in place.

On Monday morning, Paul Mackel told Street Sign Asia, affiliated to CNBC, that the vibe had been around for the longest time hence. Additionally, he noted that China has of late been very cautious about cryptos, which is also not a new occurrence as far as he’s concerned.

Cryptocurrency Regulations in China

Paul Mackel however noted that the current attempt on cryptocurrency regulations in China doesn’t necessarily conflict with the country’s bid to launch its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), the digital yuan, which’s set to be an alternative form of the circulating currency.

He further said that he believes there are more issues at the moment. The level of speculation, the volatility, and the environmental impact cryptocurrencies have are issues that may have been a big concern for China lately.

On the other hand, Liu He, China’s Vice Premier noted that it was prudent to crack down and evaluate the mining of Bitcoin in order to mitigate the transmission of risks to the immediate social environment. This statement fuelled a further Bitcoin dip in addition to the volatility experienced in the past week. China’s crackdown on Cryptos began and gathered pace four years ago, in 2017 when Bitcoin exchanges in the country were shut down by regulators

Effect of the Vice Premier’s Statement and Future Expectations

Coindesk’s data showed that Bitcoin remained bearish. In the early hours of Sunday morning, Bitcoin had already lost 5.17%, trading at $35,040. However, some pundits remain optimistic even after the recent notable Bitcoin crash. Bobby Lee, Ballet’s CEO, a Cryptocurrency wallet, is of the opinion that Bitcoin won’t remain bearish for long despite China’s regulatory pressure. He actually believes that the cryptocurrency will turn bullish and surge in the very near future.

Bobby Lee further noted that he won’t be surprised to see a surge from the current price levels to trading at $100,000 or more by fall or summer. Moreover, he expects China’s pressure to ease as it did in 2017. The founder of the first Chinese BTC exchange was also quoted saying that “And of course, people recall historically that after the crash, BTC rose by 500% to trade at $20,000, an all-time high at the time.