China’s Ban on Crypto Isn’t Hurting Bitcoin. Here’s Why.

China’s latest moves to ban cryptocurrency transactions are causing exchanges to shut down in the country, but Bitcoin and its counterparts appear to be taking the crackdown in stride.

Prices for Bitcoin and Ethereum, the two largest cryptos, have risen more than 7% and 15%, respectively, from their low points on Friday, when China’s new ban was published, according to Fundstrat Global Advisors.

Bitcoin was trading around $43,600 Monday morning, down slightly from before China’s announcement. Ethereum, at around $3,090, has also recouped losses since Friday’s sell-off took the coin down to $2,750.

Other cryptos fared even better over the weekend—notably the tokens used to process trades on decentralized exchanges, known as DEXes. Uniswap, Sushiswap, and dYdx, the tokens associated with those three venues, have surged more than 30% since Friday as activity on those platforms took off.

Trading on the dYdX DEX topped that on Coinbase Global (ticker: COIN) over the weekend, according to Fundstat, pushing the token’s price up 80%.

DEXes allow users to swap tokens with far more privacy and anonymity than a standard brokerage. Users may be able to set up accounts without providing their names or addresses, simply by registering a digital wallet that is associated with an IP address and security keys. Trading occurs automatically using software code and “smart contracts” between buyers and sellers, or lenders and borrowers.

China appears intent on shutting down commercial crypto transactions and trading in the country. The People’s Bank of China and other regulatory agencies warned citizens of stiff penalties if they were caught trading cryptos or related products.

One of the largest exchanges in China, Huobi Global, has stopped opening accounts for new customers in mainland China, effective this past Friday. It said on Sunday that it would “gradually retire” existing accounts by the end of the year.

Binance, another major exchange, has also suspended new accounts in China. It said Monday that users in Singapore wouldn’t be able to access its site for deposits or trading of cryptos, starting Oct 26., and that users in the country were advised to “cease all related trades, withdraw fiat assets and redeem tokens by Wednesday.”

Singapore’s central bank warned in early September that Binance may be violating payment regulations in the country.

Yet the crypto markets aren’t tanking, even as China and other countries in Asia move to restrict commercial transactions.

One explanation is that traders can migrate to DEXes where it may be harder for regulators to track transactions. Uniswap and other exchanges could be beneficiaries if trading volume moves to their platforms long-term.

As Fundstrat noted, moreover, much of the Bitcoin that has been mined, or produced, doesn’t circulate, and more of it may be kept offline. About 70% of all circulating Bitcoins is now held by long-term holders, up from 59% in May. “This indicates that ‘whales’ have continued buying into recent volatility,” Fundstrat said.

China has periodically tried to restrict crypto activity and Bitcoin has shrugged it off. Not including the latest crackdown, China has announced tough new measures on crypto six times since 2013. Bitcoin fell an average 4% in the week after the announcements but was up an average 46% a year later.

“The lesson here is that if you invest in crypto long enough, you start to develop a circadian-like rhythm in which you find yourself unsurprised by panic-selling initiated by seemingly routine ‘FUD’ released by the Chinese government,” Fundstrat wrote, referring to fear, uncertainty, and doubt.

Nonetheless, trading on DEX platforms isn’t as easy as it is on the major sites. It takes more technical skill than simply opening an account with a brokerage service and funding it through a bank account. Active crypto traders may not be deterred, but the casual investor may find it too cumbersome–and hardly worth the potential penalties in an authoritarian country like China.

The message from crypto markets now is that they don’t need China or its vast market of investors. Whether that lasts remains to be seen, especially if other countries follow in China’s path.

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Worrying about the cost of living is causing accelerated ageing, household arguments and creating significant stress, according to new research. More than half of Australians say they have experienced personal setbacks due to financial strain over the past year. Almost 20 percent say that have suffered a stress-related illness, 33 percent have lost sleep and almost one in five are seeing signs of early ageing.

Household hostility is also rising, with 19 percent of Australians admitting they have argued with their partners about money, and a further one in 10 have argued with family and friends.

The Finder survey of 1,070 Australians reveals women are bearing the brunt of financial stress, with 62 percent reporting they have worried about money compared to 42 percent of men.

Younger Australians are struggling the most, with almost 7 in 10 Gen Z respondents reporting financial strain compared to 58 percent of Gen Xers and 24 percent of baby boomers.

The impact of cost-of-living pressures among different age groups and income levels is reflected in new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The selected living cost indexes show employee households are under more strain from inflation, with the CPI measure for this population group at 6.5 percent today compared to the official overall CPI figure of just 3.6 percent.

The discrepancy is due to higher mortgage interest payments – which make up a higher proportion of expenditure for employee households — as well as an increase in primary and secondary school fees, and the indexation of tertiary education fees at the start of the year. The official CPI does not include mortgage payments, so the living cost indexes provide a more accurate picture of how rising interest rates are impacting households with mortgages today.

The inflation rate is much lower for older Australians, who have often paid off their mortgages. The inflation rate on living expenses for age pensioner households is below the official CPI level at 3.3 percent, and it’s only slightly higher at 3.4 percent for self-funded retirees.

Graham Cooke, head of consumer research at Finder, said that despite cooling inflation, Australians were still under significant financial pressure.

“This can be seen in Finder’s Cost of Living Pressure Gauge, which has been hovering in the extreme range for the past year and a half,” Mr Cooke said. The gauge returned a reading of 78 percent in March this year compared to 47 percent in March 2021, when inflation was 1.1 percent and the Reserve Bank’s official cash rate was 0.1 percent.

Interestingly, Australians’ cash savings are higher today than they were in 2021, likely reflecting stimulus payments received and saved during the pandemic. The Reserve Bank has cited pandemic savings as a factor in keeping mortgage arrears low despite much higher interest rates. The Finder research shows Australians have an average of $37,206 in cash savings today, up from $24,928 two years ago.

“Money concerns can cause problems in your everyday life and snowball quickly if you don’t get them under control,” Mr Cooke said. “Building financial resilience is as vital as ever as costs continue to rise. Pay close attention to where your money is going so you keep impulse spending to a minimum, and don’t overspend.”

Australians appear to be heeding this advice, with the latest ABS retail figures showing seven straight quarters of declining per capita spending. “Per capita volumes show retail turnover after the effects of inflation and population growth have been accounted for,” explained Ben Dorber, ABS head of retail statistics. “Following an unprecedented seven straight falls, it is very clear how much consumers have pulled back on spending in response to cost of living pressures over the past two years.”

China’s Ban on Crypto Isn’t Hurting Bitcoin. Here’s Why.

The world’s most infamous crypto is taking the crackdown in stride.

Money worries are having a cascading effect on stress levels, conflict and even the rate of ageing