Chinese bitcoin traders still wield enormous influence
Chinese bitcoin traders continue to thrive despite Beijing’s four-year crackdown on cryptocurrencies, experts told CNBC. But tough words from Beijing are not new. In 2017, China shut down local cryptocurrency exchanges and banned so-called initial coin offerings (ICOs), a way to raise money for crypto companies by issuing digital tokens.
China’s role in bitcoin was thrust back into the spotlight last week after authorities reiterated that financial institutions should not get involved in cryptocurrency businesses such as trading or helping to exchange fiat into digital coins. These were not new regulations. But it was one of the reasons for the plunge in bitcoin last Wednesday, which at one point fell 30% to just over $30,000 before seeing a recovery.
What has happened to Chinese bitcoin trading?
As China increased its scrutiny of the cryptocurrency sector, a sort of grey market was created. Chinese exchanges such Huobi and OKEx moved offshore since they were not able to be licensed on the mainland. Some of these platforms offer crypto-to-crypto trading such as buying bitcoin with the U.S. dollar-linked stablecoin called tether (USDT). Some platforms offer a renminbi to USDT conversion service which allows Chinese users to get the crypto required to buy bitcoin.
Top Cryptocurrencies with Price Predictions
| # | Crypto | Prediction | Accuracy | CVIX | Price | 24h | 7d | Market Cap | 7d price change | |
| 1 |  BTC |
Bitcoin predictions | 83.6% | 28 | $19 095.25 | 0.49% | -4.82% | $365 864 647 826 |  |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 |  ETH |
Ethereum predictions | 73.6% | 56 | $1 331.94 | 0.71% | -8.41% | $163 184 327 469 |  |
|
| 3 |  USDT |
Tether predictions | 94.4% | 1 | $1.000074 | 0% | 0% | $67 959 697 977 |  |
|
| 4 |  USDC |
USD Coin predictions | 92.4% | 1 | $1.000122 | 0.02% | 0% | $49 720 551 593 |  |
|
| 5 |  BNB |
Binance Coin predictions | 86.8% | 17 | $277.78 | -1.12% | -0.16% | $44 816 623 769 |  |
|
| 6 |  XRP |
XRP predictions | 63.2% | 72 | $0.488936 | -0.60% | 26.12% | $24 372 838 519 |  |
|
| 7 |  BUSD |
Binance USD predictions | 93.6% | 1 | $1.000226 | -0.02% | 0.02% | $20 521 880 085 |  |
|
| 8 |  ADA |
Cardano predictions | 80% | 32 | $0.456989 | -0.44% | -6.44% | $15 641 937 626 |  |
|
| 9 |  SOL |
Solana predictions | 81.6% | 31 | $33.96 | 0.41% | 0.39% | $12 044 646 131 |  |
|
| 10 |  STETH |
Lido stETH predictions | 93.2% | 1 | $2 941.39 | -0.40% | -3.32% | $10 258 752 564 |  |
|
| 11 |  DOGE |
Dogecoin predictions | 87.6% | 15 | $0.063120 | -3.40% | 2.65% | $8 374 180 689 |  |
|
| 12 |  DOT |
Polkadot predictions | 79.6% | 43 | $6.34 | -1.08% | -9.42% | $7 104 062 562 |  |
|
| 13 |  DAI |
Dai predictions | 95.2% | 1 | $1.000115 | 0.02% | 0.02% | $6 930 218 400 |  |
|
| 14 |  MATIC |
Polygon predictions | 70% | 54 | $0.760974 | -1.00% | -7.31% | $6 646 589 172 |  |
|
| 15 |  SHIB |
SHIBA INU predictions | 76.8% | 42 | $0.000011 | 1.90% | -4.05% | $6 254 513 839 |  |
