OKCoin: Bitcoin is changing the rules of the game in the global remittance market

When people talk about Bitcoin, they first pay attention to its price, then think of its global liquidity and payment characteristics. Bitcoin has so many aspects that it is difficult to accurately define what it is. Is Bitcoin a protocol? A network? Or an open software resource platform? Its main value lies in the fact that it can be traded online in real time without a centralized payment system, just like the transmission of information by email.

According to an article in Forbes, top media publications have begun to acknowledge the fact that Bitcoin is developing into an important option for people because it not only reduces the cost of the international remittance market but also increases the speed.

The article shows that last year, the global international remittances cost about $44 billion. Total international remittances reached $583 billion in 2014, which is more than twice the amount of official development assistance. India received $70 billion, China $64 billion, and the Philippines $28 billion. If the expected global economic recovery next year materializes, global international remittance flows are expected to accelerate by 4.1% in 2016 to about $610 billion, rising to $636 billion in 2017. International remittance inflows to developing countries are expected to recover to $459 billion in 2016 and rise to $479 billion in 2017.

International remittances are the transfer of money from one country to another, usually from middle- and upper-income households to low-income households, which helps reduce the overall poverty level of a country. The current international system is very expensive, especially for people who only live on $2 or $3 a day, and the cost of remittances is undermining the already poor international remittance market. Bitcoin brings a breath of fresh air to the exploitative international remittance market. So for people who pay 10% of the total amount of international remittances as fees, Bitcoin can be a solution for them. New technologies such as Bitcoin can serve those who cannot afford the high fees of traditional payment procedures.

In this regard, Xu Mingxing, CEO of Bitcoin trading platform OKCoin, said: When a large amount of funds is transferred from one country to another, it will be very slow, and the transfer fee is also very expensive, because the connection between financial institutions and systems is limited, and there is currently no neutral network to connect the systems of financial institutions to each other, which leads to low efficiency and high costs of international remittances. Bitcoin can solve this problem. The global liquidity of Bitcoin can greatly increase the transaction speed. Usually a transaction is completed in more than ten minutes, and the transaction fee is almost negligible. As a remitter, you can hold Bitcoin, or you can use Bitcoin as a medium to convert it into legal currency. Either way, it can be completed very easily through Bitcoin. Bitcoin is changing the rules of the game in the global remittance market.