The potential of the OTC market is gradually being tapped, and Bikan attended the Latin American Bitcoin Conference to discuss the development of the Chinese industry

In 2016, the price of Bitcoin continued to rise, attracting the attention of global investors again. Some analysts believe that the main reason why the price of Bitcoin once again exceeded the 5,000 yuan mark in October is that the continuous depreciation of the RMB and the global economic downturn have led more and more investors to try new asset classes such as Bitcoin.

Bitcoin has natural advantages in cross-border payment, transaction and value storage, but due to restrictions such as exchanges, it is not easy for Bitcoin to be used in every corner of the world. Based on this, OTC transactions came into being. In recent years, as the potential of the OTC market has been gradually explored, in addition to foreign OTC trading platforms such as LocalBitcoins, Bikan, which focuses on digital currency market information, also launched OTC services this year.

Launched the web version of OTC, and continued to develop overseas markets

Since receiving a 10 million yuan investment this year, Bikan's OTC business has been progressing rapidly and has continued to expand in overseas markets. Its OTC services have added many fiat currency trading products. In addition to the RMB, it also supports US dollars, euros, rubles, British pounds, Argentine pesos, Singapore dollars, Hong Kong dollars, Tazakhstan Tenge, Ukrainian hryvnia and other fiat currencies. Bikan COO Yu Fang revealed, "In addition, Bikan has already reached close cooperation in the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, Argentina and other countries, opening the first step in major markets."

Recently, Bikan launched a web version of OTC. The launch of the web version is actually Bikan's adaptation to the needs of the global market, while providing more options for users who are not used to using mobile clients, and can be used without downloading. The usage habits of apps are proportional to the popularity of mobile Internet, but in some overseas countries, people are not yet used to mobile clients.

Talking about future plans, Yu Fang said, "In the near future, we will continue to improve the functions and usability of OTC products, comprehensively upgrade the Bikan App, and attend summits in Moscow and India this year to look for more global cooperation opportunities."

Attending the Latin American Bitcoin Conference and discussing the development of China's Bitcoin industry

The annual laBITconf, Latin America Bitcoin Conference was successfully held on November 4 and 5, local time, with the theme of "Understanding the Technology that Redefines Efficiency and Trust". More than 50 heavyweight guests from the industry attended the conference, including Andreas M. Antonopoulos, a Bitcoin expert, Peter Todd, a Bitcoin Core developer, representatives from companies such as IBM and Microsoft, and the founders of star projects Rootstock and Zcash. Chinese companies Bitmain and Bikan also attended the conference.

Bikan COO Yu Fang was the guest speaker and introduced the huge driving force that China plays in the Bitcoin world. Yu Fang mentioned in her speech that the number of Bitcoin users in China is as high as 2 million, and China accounts for 80% of the world's Bitcoin transactions.

As early as 2011, the first batch of Chinese Bitcoin startups, BTCC Exchange and media platform 8btc, were born; in November 2013, as Bitcoin reached its peak price, more companies with good operations and profitability such as Bitmain, OKCoin and Huobi were established. After 2015, the entire Chinese Bitcoin industry was in a downturn, and more and more startups went bankrupt. But from the second half of 2015 to now, blockchain has become a hot topic in China, and more Bitcoin companies have begun to "transform" and set up technology companies around blockchain technology. This year's surge in Bitcoin prices also confirms the new value of digital currency and blockchain industry.

Bikan has also evolved from an initial Bitcoin market alert tool to the current Android and iOS applications, which have market information and OTC trading functions. Its users have also expanded from a small range of applications to the current overseas market.

How OTC can balance regulatory requirements and user privacy

Strengthening supervision is the only way for the industry, and companies in the industry have also expressed their willingness to comply with the laws of various countries. Once restrictions are placed on currency exchange through Bitcoin, will it have an impact on the OTC market? Liu Aihua, founder of Bikan, said:

“In addition to currency exchange, Bitcoin has many other applications. Thanks to the efforts of the entire industry, Bitcoin is used in more and more scenarios and has a wider audience. Under this general trend, restrictions on currency exchange as a single scenario will not have much impact on the OTC market. We are still optimistic about this field. Bikan will comply with the laws and regulations of various countries.”

For companies involved in Bitcoin transactions, KYC is a necessary step, but the balance between KYC and user privacy must also be considered.

“Currently, users who trade less than 5 BTC per day on Bikan do not need KYC. Users who need to increase their limit need to provide necessary identity proof to Bikan. We will verify their identity and increase the transaction limit based on actual user needs.”

Bikan is a wave in the tide of China's Bitcoin innovation movement. The development history of Bikan gives us a glimpse into the rapid development of China's Bitcoin industry in recent years. Regulation is not an obstacle, but a necessary path for Bitcoin. With the rapid development of mobile Internet, China's digital currency and blockchain industries are also moving rapidly in the right direction.