Cryptocurrency price RISE: Bitcoin, Ripple and Ethereum look to China for price 'push'

Bitcoin’s highest point this week of $6,710 is 13 percent up on its lowest point of $5,858 and optimism is very much in the air with ethereum recovering from a low of $412 to hit a high of $482 a 14 percent rise, and ripple moving from a low of $0.43 to hit a high of $0.51.

Following discussion from a 14 person panel, finder.com released its July Cryptocurrency Predictions Survey today, suggesting that by the end of July we could see steady rises across the major coins.

Jon Ostler, CEO of finder.com told Express.co.uk that, as a general rule, “the crypto industry is optimistic about the future.”

However, Mr Ostler says that the cryptocurrency world should be keeping an eye on developments to the east.

He said: “China lifting its ban on cryptocurrency would likely have a significant impact on prices.

“It is such a big potential market that even murmurings of the ban lifting would probably push value up in the short-term.”

The ban in China came in at the start of February 2018 when the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) – the central regulatory authority for financial institutions and monetary policy – issued a statement that it would “block access to all domestic and foreign cryptocurrency exchanges and ICO websites.”

The ban wiped six percent off bitcoin’s value and began a steady decline in bitcoin’s value from $9,052 at the start of the month to $6,914 on February 5th.

However, with China actively involved in the development of blockchain technology, one commentator claimed that China will not want to miss out on the rise of cryptocurrency.

Bobby Lee, CEO and co-founder of BTCC told CBNC earlier this year that “in this world, nothing is ever permanent,”

He said: “One day I think it’s possible they’ll lift the ban, so called, and they might reinstitute it and license it.

“Frankly speaking, I don’t know what kind of time frame that is, whether it’s a few months, a few years or even a few decades, so it’s hard to tell.”