In the West far more attention is paid to the US as regards crypto, but China and Asia in general are the ones buying. A US in turmoil not good for crypto With the US debt pile increasing rapidly from its current impossibly sized $32 trillion on which $1 trillion interest needs to be paid annually, and a government and its financial watchdogs trying their best to suppress and close down crypto companies, this cannot be the best jurisdiction to support the crypto industry. The US debt cannot be funded, and the Federal Reserve pushing up interest rates will only serve to close smaller businesses and put American people out of work. The crypto industry would create jobs, but it appears that this US administration does not want them. A recent downgrade of the US by the Fitch ratings agency would suggest that the cat is out of the bag and the craziness of US economic policy, and the ineptness of its government is being called to account. Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan, and obviously a staunch supporter of the US banking system, said of the downgrade: “It doesn’t really matter that much. The markets decide, not the rating agencies.” Mr Dimon might want to hope and pray that the markets carry on turning a blind eye to the house of cards that the US has become. Buying its own debt, and just being able to print more money doesn’t provide the solid base that its economy needs. Crypto exchanges worldwide tell an interesting story So where does this leave crypto? As per data from The Block, on North American exchanges for the month of July, a total of $42 billion in exchange volume was achieved. For exchanges based in Europe for the same month, the volume was $18 billion, and for those based in Asia it was a whopping $340 billion, which dwarfs that of both North America and Europe combined. These figures mean that the crypto trading market is only really happening in Asia, with around 8 times the volume of that taking place in North America. But what of China? Crypto trading has been banned here. So why, according to the Wall Street Journal, did Binance just do a monthly crypto trading volume of $90 billion in China? This volume also makes China the biggest contributor of trading volume to Binance worldwide. Either China has had a major rethink on crypto, or it just cannot suppress crypto within its own borders. But then if one looks to its overseas territory of Hong Kong, and how it is starting to give out licences to crypto companies and is setting itself up to be one of the major crypto hubs for Asia, it gives a bit more insight into the Chinese new thinking on crypto. The US is tearing itself apart with poor government and internal division, and is in the process of excluding a new and innovative technology from its shores. China could certainly be the major beneficiary of this poorly thought out US policy. Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
