Global Coin Research Founder: Before Bitcoin’s Launch, China Already Had Crypto Asset Use Experience

Anthony Pompliano is a popular man in the cryptocurrency world, as the co-founder of Morgan Creek Digital and the host of the “Off the Chain” podcast. One of his most recent guests was Joyce Yang, who founded Global Coin Research, and the conversation eventually led to the cryptocurrency scene in Asia.

This particular conversation involved the current culture of cryptocurrency, surrounding the way that consumers are able to use digital assets in Asia. Yang commented that the recent statistics for China show that there is only about 15% of retail transactions presently being made in cash. Most of the companies in the country hope to see a “cashless society,” like Ali Baba and Tencent. These two companies alone hold billions of accounts and even provide overseas services to Chinese citizens.

Unlike other countries, the local banks and tech companies in China have been working on a comprehensive plan to establish this cashless payment system. A singular financial brand helped both Ali Baba and Tencent to make their own progress, without losing collective consensus amongst financial institutions.

Part of the reason that Chinese citizens have such a firm grasp on cryptocurrencies is due to how long they have already been dealing in digital assets. According to Yang, the people were able to easily integrate the payment methods used by Ali Baba, especially considering the simple interface. Most people ended up adopting payment systems.

The other side of the quick adoption is due to the way that Bitcoin managed to solve a big concern of theirs – capital control. With access to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, consumers had the ability to easily transfer the money that they needed to send around the world without long holds.

Interestingly, even though cryptocurrency seems to be a welcomed payment method in China, the authorities aren’t as keen on crypto mining. In fact, the executive chairman of the Blockchain Research Institute, Donald Tapscott, recently spoke on the potential to ban mining in the country entirely. He commented that is “not really necessary” to impose the ban, because he does not expect Bitcoin to still be used in China in the next two decades. Instead, he believes that the only thing that will be used in China will end up being the RMB, which “will become a cryptocurrency,” as will the central bank of China.