Within a week since the initial plunge in value resulting from the halting of withdrawals by leading Bitcoin exchanges OKCoin and Huobi, Bitcoin price already recovered beyond its previous all-time high value of $1,060, nearing $1,080 in major markets.
Cointelegraph’s recent coverage on the trend in the global Bitcoin exchange market revealed that the Japanese Bitcoin exchange market surpassed the size of the US and Chinese markets, officially becoming the largest Bitcoin exchange market in the world with a staggering 50 percent market share.
The factors behind Bitcoin price ups and downs
The Japanese market has been the key factor behind the recovery of Bitcoin price over the past week, as it is evident that traders and investors within the Chinese market shifted over to the Japanese market that has a reliable, secure and regulatory compliant Bitcoin exchange in bitFlyer and a governing entity that has introduced sound policies and regulations for both Bitcoin ventures and users.
As a result, Bitcoin price massively declined in the Chinese market from around $1,060 to $1,032 while Bitcoin exchanges in the Japanese market have seen the facilitation of Bitcoin trades at the $1,080 mark, with a premium in the range of $20 to $50 in comparison to major markets like the US, China and Europe.
On Feb. 9, Bitcoin price dipped below $960 due to the People’s Bank of China’s heavy involvement with the local Bitcoin market. The central bank of China demanded OKCoin and Huobi, two of the country’s largest exchanges, to overhaul their Anti-Money Laundering and Know Your Customer systems.
On top of that, the central bank requested the two exchanges to halt withdrawals for one month until the upgrade is complete.
Abrupt announcements from OKCoin and Huobi caused a shock in the US Bitcoin exchange market and Bitcoin price continued to plummet. The global average price of Bitcoin was stabilized relatively quickly however as the Japanese, South Korean and Chinese markets showed resilience to the announcements.
Ever since the initial plunge of Bitcoin value on Feb. 9, Bitcoin price has stayed over $1,000 and maintained stability for seven straight days. It has continued to increase in value, specifically in the Japanese and US markets, recording two to four percent daily increases in price over the past few days.