Bitcoin booms but Hong Kong listed crypto stocks slide in wake of China crackdown
Hong Kong listed digital currency stocks have nosedived today following Beijing’s declaration that all crypto payments are illegal.
Huobi Global, a crypto currency exchange, saw its share price plummet by 21.87 per cent compared to its previous close price. OKG Technology, a fintech and construction company owned by the founder of crypto exchange OK Coin, also fell more than 20 per cent.
It comes after the People’s Bank of China declared all crypto payments illegal on Friday and said that foreign exchanges offering services to Chinese customers were contravening the country’s laws.
To comply with the regulations Huobi Global announced plans to cease account registration for new users in Mainland China effective immediately. The exchange will also gradually retire existing Mainland China user accounts by the end of the year.
In response to the announcement, the price of the exchange’s native crypto token hit an 8 month low, trading at $7.04HKD.
Binance, the world’s largest crypto currency exchange by trade volume, has also announced that it will no longer accept new registrations from Chinese customers.
Despite a bearish day for Hong Kong’s crypto stocks, the crypto market has made a strong recovery since news of China’s crackdown broke.
The global market capitalisation for crypto assets has climbed from below $1.8tn on yesterday to $1.94tn today.
The growth has been driven by Bitcoin which has seen its price jump by 5.54 per cent in the past 24 hours. Ethereum is also up 11.21 per cent.
Read more: China in all-out crypto crackdown as it declares payments illegal