Douyin, the version of TikTok for China, showed Bitcoin and other crypto price updates for approximately 24 hours.
For less than 24 hours, the prices of Bitcoin and other major cryptos were displayed on Douyin, the People’s Republic of China-only TikTok social network, which is under strict government surveillance. The novelty occurred on April 10, according to specialized media reports.
The first reaction was speculation, taking into consideration that anything that has to do with digital currencies carries a penalty in that country. Among cryptocurrency enthusiasts, the expectation of a possible relaxation of Beijing’s drastic measures against the sector was generated.
Since 2021, any type of trade with digital currencies has been penalized in the Asian country. Consequently, exchanges between crypto or between crypto and fiat, as well as trading with NFTs and related activities, are all penalized. Hence, the publication of the prices of these assets on the social network was more than surprising inside and outside the communist nation.
Douyin Removed Labels from Bitcoin and Other Cryptos
The dream that the authorities would move to a looser stage of control over Bitcoin and other cryptos quickly faded, though. In this sense, the platform removed all the price tags within 24 hours of placing them in view of the more than 750 million users it has in China.
Among the currencies that stood out on the display, some important ones such as Bitcoin, Ether, Doge, and Ripple stood out. The fact that hundreds of millions of people saw this display could have positive effects on this digital market. So far, the price of the pioneering digital currency remains above the $30,000 per unit range.
The popularity of Douyin, a twin platform of Tik Tok launched by ByteDance, with exclusive features for Chinese users, is overwhelming in the Asian country. The number of users is close to 750 million people, which suggests that a good part of them was exposed to cryptocurrency information.
It is worth mentioning that the maximum pressure measures on Bitcoin and other cryptos do not extend to the entire country. For example, in Hong Kong, an autonomous province belonging to China, the authorities are more open to these cryptographic assets. In fact, the local government of the province hopes to turn the territory into a global epicenter of cryptocurrencies.
Douyin Warned About the Dangers of Investing in Virtual Currencies
Although the displayed prices of Bitcoin and other cryptos caused a considerable impact on users of Douyin, they did not last long. In less than 24 hours, the platform decided to withdraw them, warning about the dangers of investing in virtual currencies. With this, the doubts about the iron attitude of the authorities towards this type of asset were cleared up.
According to relevant national regulations in China, unofficial digital currencies do not have the same legal status as fiat currencies. “Please invest with caution,” the platform read after the labels that caused a stir were removed. This message, if correctly translated from Chinese, leaves room for hope.
The Beijing authorities consider cryptocurrency trading as an activity that threatens the stability of the financial system. Despite the government’s hostility to these assets, the attitude towards the underlying technology, the Blockchain, is friendlier.
By Audy Castaneda
