China’s Oldest Cryptocurrency Exchange BTCC Acquired by an Undisclosed Blockchain Investment Fund

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by Polina Chernykh · 3 min read
China’s Oldest Cryptocurrency Exchange BTCC Acquired by an Undisclosed Blockchain Investment Fund
Photo: Pictures of Money / Flickr

According to BTCC founder, the acquisition is a major milestone as it will help the exchange to grow virtual currency adoption and expand its business worldwide.

One of the largest bitcoin exchanges in China has announced it was acquired by the blockchain investment fund located in Hong Kong. The financial details of the deal as well as the name of the fund have not been revealed.

Formerly known as BTC China, BTCC is one of the oldest exchanges operating since 2011. Last year, its bitcoin trading volume reached $25 billion, while the company’s own mining pool mined about $900 million in the digital currency. However, a few months ago, BTCC shut down its operations due to an increased regulatory crackdown in China and moved its headquarters to Hong Kong. In September, the government announced a ban on cryptocurrency trading and required all exchanges in the country to stop their operations.

“Today’s acquisition is an incredible milestone for BTCC that validates all of our hard work over the past few years,” Bobby Lee, co-founder of BTCC, said in a blog post. “I’m very excited about the resources this gives BTCC to move faster and aggressively grow our businesses in 2018 and beyond.”

Calvin Cheng, a Singaporean businessman who advises the Hong Kong  investment fund, commented: “We’re humbled that we were able to acquire BTCC. BTCC has an unparalleled brand and reputation, and we look forward to taking it to greater heights of success internationally.”

According to BTCC, it is going to concentrate exclusively on the international market and its three main products — digital wallet Mobi, USD Exchange, BTCC Pool, which will be led by Mark Ma, Aaron Choi, and Denver Zhao, respectively.

Zhao, senior vice president of BTCC Mining Pool, said the acquisition will allow BTCC to fulfill its vision of worldwide cryptocurrency adoption.

“We now have the resources to more fully realize our vision of safeguarding and stabilizing digital currencies’ blockchains,” he noted. “Going forward, we’ll provide better, fairer, more transparent, and more comprehensive mining services to our customers worldwide.”

Ma, the vice president of BTCC Mobi, believes the acquisition will enable the exchange to sharpen its competitive edge.

“Mobi, the global multicurrency wallet that we introduced in March 2017, now has customers from more than 180 countries. The capital injection we received today gives us a boost towards reaching our goal to grab a dominant market share in the payments and digital currency industries of each of those countries,” he said.

In view of the intensifying cryptocurrency regulation in China, local companies have started to look for new opportunities in other countries. Recently, the Chinese bitcoin mining company Bitman Technologies reportedly opened a subsidiary in Switzerland.

Overall, Lee is optimistic about the future of BTCC. “I’m excited about this new chapter in BTCC’s future — the acquisition poises us for success in 2018 and beyond,” he said. “The resources we’ll gain and the new set of experienced and talented executives we’ll have joining the BTCC team give us impetus to lead every segment of the digital currency ecosystem, including the pool, payments, and exchange businesses.”

Bitcoin News, Cryptocurrency News, News
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