Bitcoin’s Gains Not Fuelled By Chinese Capital Flight Only: Circle CEO

According to Jeremy Allaire, the price increases in Bitcoin since the beginning of the year were driven by more than just Chinese investors seeking to avoid capital controls. The Circle CEO claims that a belief in this narrative from investors outside of China is likely to behind the rise too.

Allaire also believes that although cryptocurrency is on the agenda at the forthcoming G7 summit, we will not hear specific policies from the group just yet. However, he does expect to learn more about the nature of the group’s interest in crypto assets in the coming weeks.

Allaire: Bitcoin is Non-Sovereign, Of Course it Appeals to Those Wanting Ultimate Control of Their Own Capital

Speaking with CNBC earlier today, Circle CEO, Jeremy Allaire, said that he did not find it at all surprising that people were starting to see Bitcoin as a way of preserving wealth outside of a threatened economy. Arguing that its core value proposition hadn’t changed in around eight years, Allaire said:

“Clearly a non-sovereign digital asset is attractive to people who are interested in moving capital into a place that they can control it themselves.”

He went on to state that although institutional and retail investors were starting to see the appeal, those finding Bitcoin most attractive were people that were already subject to strict capital controls in their home country.

In response to a question about the cause of the recent upwards price trend of Bitcoin during 2019, Allaire reasoned that it was both investors attempting to move capital out of China, along with the rest of the world presuming that there would be a price pump based on the superpower’s increasingly harsh economic policies in response to the ongoing trade war with the US:

“I think it’s likely a mixture of both and it’s obviously not something you can clearly measure at any given time but it does seem like a mixture of both.”

Finally, Allaire commented on the G7 summit being held in France at the end of the month. The topic of cryptocurrency is up for debate amongst the heads of state:

“Crypto as an agenda item is absolutely on the docket, it’s becoming obviously a major topic.”

However, Allaire thinks it’s too early to get a clear picture of the direction the meetings and talks relating to digital assets will take. He stated:

“I don’t know that we’re going to see specific policy but certainly we’re going to hear some perspective out of there.”

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