President Xi’s enthusiastic comments about blockchain had a positive impact on both the stock market and the education sector. There has also been an increased curiosity among Chinese about blockchain technology.
The recent comments about the need to adopt blockchain by China’s President have caused a ripple effect across the blockchain and cryptocurrency sphere. Bitcoin, for instance, was able to hold its price high with its biggest 2 days jump since 2017, closing its price at $10,350.
The London stock market had opened the day down 1.6% at $9,403, but between Friday and Saturday, the two days after Xi’s announcement, there was a 24% jump in bitcoin prices.
China stock market response
Google traffic from China also indicated a spike in searches relating to blockchain and bitcoin after Xi’s comments. This was as a result of increased curiosity from Chinese about the technology, something that might have been contributed in part by Xi’s comment.
It is important to note that in China, cryptocurrencies exchanges are banned. However, Chinese still dominate the online exchange market places and they make a huge chunk of worldwide daily transactions using bitcoins.
It was not just the crypto-currency markets that were gaining ground. In China, companies seen as blockchain-related were gaining ground in the market. Dozens of these firms were able to close their prices at 10% higher market prices after the comments. This percentage is the maximum allowable percentage that a company can gain in the stock market in China in a day.
These companies included Hundsun Technologies, Easysight Supply Chain Management Co, YGSOFT Inc, and dozens of others which were able to at a 10% rise in market prices. China’s technology index was also pushed to a rise of 5% by the end of the market day.
Shenzhen Composite Index and Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index were also gainers closing at 1.58% and 0.8% respectively in the stock market.
Impact on education sector
The comments also had an impact on the education sector where universities are already planning on how to begin teaching about blockchain. Some schools came out clearly indicating their support for Xi’s comment and why a framework has to be drawn to ensure that the education sector is able to benefit from this technology.
The schools can now the lead of industries like finance and healthcare and use the blockchain to help keep student data safe in the coming years. Although the process of updating the blockchain’s distributed ledger can be slow, it is much faster than many other digital means of transferring value.
Students wanting to pursue education technology (EdTech) will also benefit greatly from this education integration. They will no longer get to have fears of travelling to other universities outside China to study. This is because China is planning to be a leading player in the world of technology with its vision 2025 technological advancement and manufacturing industry. This, therefore, has all the makings of a successful endeavor by the Chinese government
