[암호화폐]중국 암호화폐 투자자들, 홍콩에서 거래 시작

[암호화폐]중국 암호화폐 투자자들, 홍콩에서 거래 시작

2017년 9월 중국정부는 국내 암호화폐 거래소들을 폐쇄했습니다. 

중국 거래소인 BTCC china, Huobi, OKCoin는 사업을 홍콩으로 이전하면서 BTCC, Huobi Pro, OKEx로 사업명을 이전했습니다.

이 3개의 거래소는 중국 투자자의 일일 거래량이 기하급수적으로 증가하는 것을 보았습니다.

홍콩에서는 비교적 쉽고 저렴하게 투자자가 사업체를 설립하고 홍콩 기반 금융 기관에서 기업 은행 계좌를 개설할 수 있습니다.

12월에는 많은 중국 투자자들이 중국은행에서 홍콩 은행 계좌로 자금을 이체하여 암호화폐를 거래하기 시작했습니다.

홍콩 기반 거래소의 수요 증가로 인해 홍콩 시장에서 상당한 프리미엄이 발생했습니다. 

예를 들어 , 1월 18일에 평균 Bitcoin 가격은 11,500달러였지만

Huobi Pro에서 13,000달러 이상으로 거래되었습니다.

홍콩의 거래소는 Alipay 및 Tencent의 WeChat Pay와 같이 중국에서 널리 사용되는 핀테크 응용 프로그램도 통합했습니다

---

Chinese citizens are still investing in Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market despite the government’s heavy crackdown.

In September 2017, Chinese cryptocurrency exchanges BTCC China, Huobi and OKCoin were ordered by the government to shut down their businesses. At one point, executives of the three cryptocurrency exchanges were prevented from leaving the country, due to a government investigation into local cryptocurrency exchanges.

Three months later, in December of 2017, China’s three largest cryptocurrency exchanges relocated their businesses to Hong Kong. BTCC China, Huobi and OKCoin rebranded to BTCC, Huobi Pro and OKEx, respectively. They intended to address the rapidly growing demand from Hong Kong-based investors.

Shortly after their move, the three trading platforms started to see daily volumes from Chinese investors grow exponentially. Somehow, Chinese investors were managing to circumvent Chinese trading restrictions by using Hong Kong-based exchanges. How is this possible?

In Hong Kong, it is relatively easy for investors to set up businesses. With less than $1,000, businesses can be legally created, which allows the opening of business bank accounts at Hong Kong-based financial institutions. Beginning in December 2017, many Chinese investors moved their funds from their Chinese bank accounts to Hong Kong bank accounts and started to trade cryptocurrencies more actively, effectively bypassing China’s restrictions.

But, unlike China, Hong Kong has a substantially lower supply to meet the growing demand. While China is home to major miners like Bitmain, Hong Kong does not produce much Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. As such, premiums in the Hong Kong cryptocurrency market increased, surpassing even that of the South Korean market. On January 18, when the global average price of Bitcoin was around $11,500, Bitcoin was being traded at above $13,000 on Huobi Pro.

Krystal Hu, a Hong Kong-based finance journalist, noted that traders outside of China have also started to take advantage of the arbitrage opportunity presented by the Hong Kong market. For instance, on January 18, the price of Bitcoin on Coinbase was $11,800. Purchasing Bitcoin from Coinbase and selling it on any Hong Kong-based market would have generated $1,200 in profit.

Chinese Government Concerned

Hong Kong’s exchanges have also integrated widely-used fintech applications in China such as Alipay and Tencent’s WeChat Pay. Alipay is a $60 billion fintech app that is used by more than 50 percent of mobile users. WeChat Pay, which was only used by seven percent of mobile users in 2014, is now being used by more than 40 percent of mobile users in China.

The integration of the two fintech payment networks has increased the accessibility of Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency OTC exchanges for Chinese investors, easing the process of investing in the cryptocurrency market.

To prevent Chinese investors from buying digital currencies, the Chinese government and the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), have asked local banks to disclose any suspicious transactions linked to Hong Kong-based markets. However, even this action will not be able to prevent Chinese investors from accessing Hong Kong-based markets, due to apps such as Alipay and WeChat Pay.

---

https://cointelegraph.com/news/how-chinese-bitcoin-buyers-are-getting-around-government-ban

http://cafe.naver.com/dhkswp232424/2000

[참조기사]