Cryptocurrency Crisis: Bitcoin’s Price Falls As China Bans Domestic Exchange

The stability of the almighty cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, is now shaky following plans by Chinese authorities to shut down domestic exchanges, after a period of scrutiny. The Republic has never legally accepted the virtual currency, but it didn’t interfere with the domestic exchanges.

Although there are indications that the decision has not been made, the rumours have already affected Bitcoin prices, bringing it down to a range between $4,107/ $4,108 as at yesterday, from the peak of $5,000 it reached on 1 September.

Chinese supervisory authority has decided to close local virtual currency exchanges, involving "currency line", "coins" and "Bitcoin China". pic.twitter.com/xnvpAsGRUJ

— People's Daily, China (@PDChina) September 8, 2017

Although the bitcoin prices fell 18% on account of the ban, the total percentage of fall in prices may however not be attributed to it alone, as the CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., the largest of the Big Four American Banks, James ‘Jamie’ Dimon, levelled one of the harshest criticisms ever to come the way of Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies. In his words, “Bitcoin will eventually blow up. It’s a fraud. It’s worse than tulip bulbs and won’t end well.” He also made it clear that he would fire any trader trading Bitcoin for being “stupid”.

Bitcoin Price Update LIVE: Bitcoin sinks further amid China shutdown and JP Morgan attack – https://t.co/MM91pWO22z https://t.co/kKXpnLA3Vd pic.twitter.com/FedUTufrrL

— Economia Digital (@Web_Economics) September 13, 2017

https://twitter.com/BanksDaily/status/907895036439867398

While Nigerians are pushing for the general acceptance of cryptocurrency and creating innovative ways to spend the coins within the country, it appears like the worth of the king of the virtual coins is largely dependent on the other variable conditions like the validation of a man and the permit of a country.

It seems regardless of the news source or the respective due diligence, you put the words China and Ban Bitcoin together – prices dip. #lol

— X7 (@AnalyzerX7) September 8, 2017

According to The Verge, China is home to the mining of Bitcoin and other virtual currencies, making up about 45% of the global market share over the past 30 days. The value of these coins may depend largely on China’s ban or acceptance which makes it tricky, considering that the Republic might be viewing these currencies as threats to the local currency.

Different regulatory and financial bodies in Nigeria have issued warnings against investing with cryptocurrencies due to its volatile and unstable nature, but due to some profits already gained, more people are joining the train.

If the prices of these coins can fluctuate based on uncontrollable circumstances, are the Nigerian investors fully aware of the risks involved, or could this be a ticking bomb which could blow up in our faces like MMM?