China Is Warming Up To Bitcoin Again

Bitcoin is an innovation China cannot say “no” to.

That’s the message of a Global Times editorial, which praises the digital currency. “There’s an increasing belief that just saying no to bitcoin won’t be the eventual solution to the cryptocurrency issue,” writes Xiao Xin, author of the editorial. “A more fundamental approach would be to embrace the new technology without putting the country’s financial system at stake.”

This approach is a signal that Beijing is getting ready to tighten regulations around the digital currency, as US, Japan and Korea have done,rather than ban it altogether.

And that could be bullish for Bitcoin prices, which have been all over in recent months. Regulating Bitcoin is certainly better than an outright ban.

The Global Times’ editorial comes months after Beijing banned Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and cryptocurrency trading, crushing Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies—see table.

Coin/Investment Trust Change 24H*
Bitcoin (BTC) -9.66%
Ethereum (ETH) -11.22
Litecoin (LTC) -16.92
BitConnect -7.81

*Friday September 7, 2017

Source: Coinranking.com

[Ed. note: Investing in cryptocoins or tokens is highly speculative and the market is largely unregulated. Anyone considering it should be prepared to lose their entire investment. Disclosure: I don't own any Bitcoin.]

That was just the beginning rather than the end of growing efforts by big governments around the world to turn Bitcoin back into what itonce was -- an exotic currency for the tech savvy and romantic radicals, as was discussed in a previous piece here.

To be fair Chinese and other governments, big and small, have a couple of good reasons to regulate the process of creating and exchanging cryptocurrencies. Like the protection of the public from market manipulation, and the ensuring of financial stability.

That’s something governments have been doing for years with conventional financial products and instruments. Why not with cry