Peter Schiff has refuted the notion that the Chinese government endorsement of blockchain is behind Bitcoin’s recent price rally. The price of the leading digital asset surged on Friday to a high above $10,000 on some exchanges before returning to around $9,400 at the time of writing.<\/p>\n
Schiff instead claims that so-called whales (large holders of the digital asset) are manipulating the market to make it more favourable for them to sell their own Bitcoin to new investors.<\/p>\n
On Friday, Chinese<\/a> media revealed<\/a> that president Xi Jinping called for the adoption of blockchain technology in the nation during a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee. Also on Friday, the price of Bitcoin suddenly shot up.<\/p>\n From trading at around $7,400, the leading digital asset surged, reaching more than $10,000 on some exchanges. In the days that followed, NewsBTC reported<\/a> on further developments around the story. These included the nation’s state-controlled media broadcasting a segment referencing Bitcoin as the first example of a blockchain application, along with evidence that a new blockchain<\/a> exam by the Chinese government opens with a class all about Bitcoin.<\/p>\n Although many commentators in the cryptocurrency industry have interpreted the development as wildly bullish for all of crypto, the news has not impressed everyone. Plenty of naysayers were on hand to remind those elated that a government with a strong preference for centralised power is unlikely to have the anarchic, decentralised Bitcoin in mind when considering its apparent rapid implementation of blockchain technology.<\/p>\n Unsurprisingly, Peter Schiff is amongst those that don’t believe the hype. He tweeted as much earlier today:<\/p>\n Bitcoin\u2019s recent sharp rally likely had nothing to do with China, or any fundamental factor. It clearly looks like market manipulation by whales looking to sucker in momentum buyers. By pumping up a technically weak market, they are able to dump more #Bitcoin<\/a> at higher prices.<\/p>\n — Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) October 28, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n