The Bitcoin market continues to go crazy, who is the real 'driving force behind the scenes'?

As many people notice the rising price of Bitcoin, they wonder – where does all this money come from?

US, Japan, and China dominate Bitcoin trading

The Bitcoin market has been going crazy recently, with the price of the currency rising to an unprecedented height and the trading volume increasing. Currently, the price of Bitcoin is close to 1,600美元, and the 24-hour global trading volume summarized by major exchanges yesterday has reached 7亿美元.

During this period, many Bitcoin participants and speculators are curious about who is the dominant player in the Bitcoin trading market. Many news media reports believe that the answer is Japan, due to the country's enthusiasm for Bitcoin. There are also reports that the Japanese market accounts for the largest share of Bitcoin's daily average trading volume. However, current data shows that Bitcoin yen trading volume is basically the same as US dollar trading volume, and RMB trading volume is close behind.

According to Coinmarketcap.com, the trading volume of US exchanges such as GDAX, Bitstamp, Kraken, Bitfinex and Gemini in the past 24 hours is between $73 million. In addition, the daily trading volume of Japanese exchanges such as Bitflyer, Coincheck, Zaif and Quoine is also around $7,300.

According to data from Huobi, BTCC and Okcoin, China's average daily Bitcoin trading volume is $45 million. In 2016, China was once a major Bitcoin trading country, but everything changed after trading platforms stopped Bitcoin withdrawals and charged fees. Following China is Europe. Data from the three major European Bitcoin exchanges show that the daily trading volume of the euro is about $31.4 million.

The authenticity of trading volume is questionable

The data shows that the volume of USD and JPY trading has indeed reached new highs, but some people think that these figures may not be entirely true. For example, the reason why China became the dominant player in the Bitcoin trading market was that domestic trading platforms did not charge any fees, which also led to the expansion of RMB trading volume. Since Chinese exchanges began to charge fees, domestic trading volume has dropped sharply. One of the advantages of Japanese Bitcoin trading is that exchanges offer zero-fee transactions, so the actual trading volume of Japanese Bitcoin may also be exaggerated.

Secondly, the USD trading volume is high, but most of it comes from Bitfinex. As of press time, $30 million of the $73 million in trading volume in the past 24 hours came from Bitfinex. However, since Bitfinex suspended USD withdrawals, the price of the coin offered by the platform has continued to soar. Currently, the price of the coin on the Bitfinex platform is around $1,630, which is higher than all USD exchanges.

Bitcoin successfully goes mainstream?

Regardless, the spotlight is on Japan, as the government recently legalized bitcoin payments. Bitflyer and Coincheck, two major exchanges, also encouraged tens of thousands of merchants to accept bitcoin payments by summer. In addition, many institutional investors see Japan as a hotspot for cryptocurrencies, and there are rumors that more bitcoin exchanges will soon appear in the country.

In other countries, the popularization of Bitcoin is also going smoothly. In the United States, China and Europe, governments have noticed the steady increase in Bitcoin transaction volume and popularity over the past year, so legislatures are also preparing to introduce specific laws and regulations to regulate Bitcoin applications.