China's Golden Opportunity to Beat The U.S In The Race To Build A Bitcoin Reserve

Former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao Predicts China could beat the United States of America at building a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.

Speaking at the Bitcoin MENA conference in Abu Dhabi on Dec. 9, former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao said that following Trump's reveal of building a Bitcoin Reserve during his campaign, China might might very well initiate a similar plan just to beat The United States at it.

But CZ admits that this is just his own speculation, and it might be very hard to predict the Chinese government's stance due to the lack of transparency in the country.

Zhao noted that while it is often the smaller nation that might lead the charge in adopting Bitcoin reserves before the larger countries follow suit.

Getting a good head start ahead of the U.S

The United States government, through the Department of Justice, holds about 200,000 BTC. Trump has suggested not selling them and keeping them as reserve in the State's account.

Similarly, China also holds Bitcoin because of its judicial seizures. As far as is known, it holds about 190,000 btc.

But the Chinese government has never publicly expressed the intention to keep them as reserves.

But one thing we know for sure is that if China were to implement this policy, it would have to take action now before Trump enters into the White House. Zhao said in the interview

“Trump has not taken office yet, and the strategic Bitcoin reserve plan has not been activated."

CZ emphasized that the country has the capacity to act quickly when implementing policy. While he saw no evidence that the Chinese government was actively accumulating Bitcoin, he believed it was only a matter of time:

“I’d be shocked if the Chinese government announced and then do it - I’d be much less surprised if they accumulate first and then announce […] They have to do it at some point because Bitcoin is the only ‘hard’ asset.”

Policy that could only benefit Bitcoin holders

The idea of a strategic Bitcoin stockpile gained attention after President-elect Donald Trump promised to create a national Bitcoin reserve during his campaign.

Critics argue that such a move would primarily benefit Bitcoin holders by driving up prices if the U.S. government were to purchase and hold a significant amount of BTC.

If China and the United States establish a Bitcoin reserve, the price of BTC would likely to increase significantly. This heightened demand from the two major economies would create scarcity in the market, pushing prices up due to the limited supply of BTC.