Chinese Exchanges May Have Resumed Bitcoin Withdrawals
Prominent Chinese cryptocurrency news source cnLedger has claimed to have received reports that OKCoin, China’s largest bitcoin exchange by trading volume, has resumed withdrawals.
It has been over 100 days since OKCoin and Huobi suspended bitcoin and litecoin withdrawals, with initial estimates of the freeze to last a month.
Bitcoin prices fell from a high of $1,080.98 on the day in early February, to $950. At the time, the wider bitcoin industry and global prices were impacted by the actions of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), the country’s central bank. Earlier in January, it was reported that the PBoC’s inspections of the exchanges found ‘irregularities’ in the exchanges’ business practices. Since then, Chinese exchanges have since stopped margin trading and futures trading before subsequently introducing trading fees.
Earlier this month, CCN.com reported that Chinese bitcoin exchange were set to resume withdrawals in June, with the PBoC inspection coming to an end. While punitive measures are reportedly drawn by the authority against the exchanges, the withdrawal block was seemingly coming to an end.
A report coming out of China in on the last day of May has seemingly confirmed withdrawals.
The lifting of the withdrawal ban has already fueled trading activity in Chinese markets, up from 11% of global trading volumes early on Wednesday to above 18% at 18:30. Predictably, OKCoin is seeing a majority of the trading in China at nearly a third of all trading in Chinese markets.
Chinese exchanges have been known to follow each other quickly when making decisions, as has been proven when announcing the end of loan-based margin trading, the introduction of bitcoin trading fees, or even reporting on delays of scheduled withdrawals in the past. Short of an official announcement, it is increasingly likely that the withdrawal ban could soon be a thing of the past. Will China return to being the dominant bitcoin trading market in the world? If so, a surge in bitcoin prices could be on the horizon.
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