China Central Television (CCTV), the government-owned broadcasting corporation of China, recently aired a brief segment on the adoption of cryptocurrencies in Hong Kong, reaching an audience of over 1 billion viewers in Mainland China.
During the segment, state news anchors informed viewers that Hong Kong regulators had completed their preparations for the trading of virtual assets in the special administrative region. They further mentioned that applications from virtual asset trading platforms would be accepted. Notably, the broadcast did not contain any explicitly negative comments about cryptocurrencies, which stood in contrast to China’s official policy of banning cryptocurrency mining and exchanges in other parts of the country.
This programming development was seen as significant by some viewers, including Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao. According to Zhao, the Chinese-speaking communities were abuzz with excitement, as similar coverage in the past had often resulted in bullish market trends.
However, the enthusiasm was short-lived, as Chinese authorities reportedly removed the link to the segment just two days after its airing. This was not the first instance of such incidents occurring. Last month, Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok with a user base of over 1 billion, began displaying cryptocurrency price quotes in its in-app search index. This move sparked a frenzy among Chinese crypto users, only to have the price quotes removed from the app a day later, accompanied by a message advising cautious investment due to the unofficial status of digital currencies compared to fiat currencies.
