After last month’s regulatory measures against the crypto space, trading is rapidly drying up in China. Once the largest market for digital currency trading, the policing of the industry is forcing activity elsewhere. With mainland exchanges shutting down, one company, TideBit, is particularly enjoying the migration. They report an influx of new registrations from China-proper.
Set up two years ago, the Hong Kong-based exchange has seen trading volume soar in recent weeks. It was originally founded by Chen Ping, the brains behind iSun Affairs online magazine – a publication that’s infamous for its hard-hitting exposés on Chinese social life and political issues. Understandably, it’s largely banned on the mainland. The TideiSun Group now own TideBit. Their chief operating officer, Terence Tsang shared his thoughts on the shift to offshore exchanges:
The ban did not stop them [Chinese investors] from buying cryptocurrencies… In the last few weeks, we have seen a lot of mainland customers opening up accounts at TideBit. They still want to play the game. I see a growing need in that they will come to Hong Kong or Singapore to buy cryptocurrency.
He went on to explain how the platform was set up as a response to the lack of options Hong Kong’s citizens had to acquire crypto:
At the time [of starting the platform] we had a documentary video platform. We liked users to pay using bitcoin or ethereum and we asked, ‘where do they get bitcoin?’ There weren’t many virtual currency exchanges in Hong Kong, so that’s why we started one.
Tsang also commented on how TideBit were interested in expanding into other countries. He pressed the importance of choosing new markets with clear guidelines and regulation in place. Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan were mentioned.
In addition to expanding outside of Hong Kong’s borders, there are also plans to offer new services in the future. This would create a “one-stop shop” for many financial products based around crypto. Vincent Poon, TideBit’s chief growth hacker said:
Right now it’s a trading platform to buy bitcoin and ethereum. We are planning to offer more financial products like futures and derivatives… We also offer different products like payment solutions, wire transfers and different types of blockchain projects. We are not just a trading platform, we also have a blockchain ecosystem.
Bitcoin is a force to be reckoned with, thanks to its decentralized nature and a strong community following. On multiple instances, governments and central bank representatives have mentioned that attempts to control the digital currency will be futile. Hope it proves right in China’s case as well.
