Internet observers have expressed surprise after the Chinese state-run media outlet CCTV carried some bold predictions about bitcoin (BTC)’s long-term future – and featuring a forecast that BTC fever may apply downward pressure on gold.
CCTV is one of China’s leading, state-operated broadcasters, with a daily readership and viewership in the millions. Since the crypto crackdown of September 2017, BTC and altcoins have been strictly off the agenda for CCTV and the like – mostly featuring in reports about scams and articles that seek to point out the differences between blockchain technology (which Beijing champions) and crypto (which it vilifies).
But internet users have taken cheer after a report from China Securities was picked up by the CCTV news platform featuring the bold prediction that BTC was beginning to “outshine” gold.
Qiao Wang of the DeFi Alliance accelerator wrote on Twitter,
“Chinese state media is saying the BTC bull market may cause long-term downward pressure on gold. This is just incredible.”
Marc van der Chijs, entrepreneur, crypto-focused venture capitalist, and co-founder of VC firm First Block Capital, opined that the news, if true, was another sign of “a huge bull market,” adding that it was “too bad Chinese can only” trade BTC on over-the-counter (OTC) platforms, as crypto exchanges are banned in the Middle Kingdom.
However, before BTC fans start uncorking the champagne, it may be worth remembering that the report was actually a repost of an article authored by China Securities, a financial media outlet with considerably more independence than CCTV.
And the article in question was not really about BTC at all. It was about gold prices, and the only reference to BTC was in a single paragraph containing thoughts from the London-based JPMorgan Chase Managing Director Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou about the long-term factors that might influence gold prices.
But China-based Sino Global Capital chief Matthew Graham took to Twitter to write that the news was nonetheless significant.
@CryptoFlow520 @redtheminer Either way the fact that it’s getting airtime on CCTV is quite significant, I’m not sur… https://t.co/JJvmipA6gV
This may well be the case – as earlier this month, the People’s Daily, China’s biggest state-run newspaper, carried an in-depth explanation about how BTC’s price had been rising, what factors might have caused the price surge…and eventually concluding that bitcoin investment was nonetheless dangerous.
Although the People’s Daily article was in fact another repost, this time of an Economic Information Daily report, also from December 3, it is still relatively rare for BTC to be given so many column inches in a Beijing mouthpiece.
At pixel time (10:20 UTC), BTC trades at USD 19,193 and is almost unchanged in a day and a week. The price is up by 21% in a month and 168% in a year.
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Learn more:
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