Hong Kong’s massive pro-democracy protest has set stage for the increasing adoption of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) in the city.
According to Yahoo Finance, the politically motivated protests have continued for over 12 weeks, with local businesses now more open to accepting digital currencies over fiat; in a show of disapproval of the government’s policies.
A popular departmental store – Pricerite announced this week it would begin accepting Bitcoin, Litecoin (LTC) and Ethereum (ETH) for purchases at the store across its fourteen retail outlets in Hong Kong. The store says it will make use of Bitcoin’s lightning network for speedy transaction processing.
This new approach by Hong Kong businesses is championed by a solidarity move which saw residents and protesters withdraw all their bank funds, with many proceeding to convert them into US dollars or their choice cryptocurrencies. See here
Reports say this new economic activism is aimed at expressing their grievances against the Chinese government, as well as offer a means to protect their assets as the financial downtime continues. The city’s wealthy elite are also said to have begun moving their wealth offshore as the tensions escalate.
Consequently, as reported by Forbes, the political unrest has brought about economic tension which has increased demand for alternative assets such as Bitcoin (BTC). Following the disturbance, Bitcoin (BTC) prices have hit a premium in the city and now sell for an extra 80-100 dollars per coin on its local exchanges.
In all, the increasing adoption of cryptocurrencies in times of unrest and economic downturn are noteworthy; countries like Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Argentina and few others have all seen BTC price hit premiums in response to various events.
What are your thoughts on this? Is Bitcoin (BTC) a safe haven asset? Share in the comments
