Cryptocurrencies may suffer a boost between China and the U.S. as U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning financial transactions with eight China-based payment apps. Following the signing of Trump’s new executive order, popular payment apps, including Alipay, Wechat Pay and Tencent’s QQ, will be banned from America in 45 days.
According to the latest executive order signed by U.S. President Donald Trump, Americans will be banned from trading with eight different Chinese payment applications. Transactions processed with these apps will be banned within 45 days according to Trump’s latest announcement. Applications that fall under Trump’s ban include WPS Office, QQ Wallet, Alipay, Camscanner, Shareit, Tencent QQ, Wechat Pay and Vmate.
The Trump administration says the ban was enacted for national security reasons and follows the executive order Trump signed to ban the China-based Tiktok app. In August, Trump signed that specific order against any transactions between Tiktok’s parent company, Bytedance. The most recent request against eight different Chinese payment applications says the ban was invoked for national security reasons.
“The pace and spread in the United States of certain connected mobile and desktop applications and other software developed or controlled by people in the People’s Republic of China … continue to threaten national security, foreign policy and the economy of the United States, ”The order of the Trump administration insists.
The analyst Michael Gogel told his 4,800 followers on Twitter that the executive order was invoked over the digital yuan and decentralized cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. “It’s all about the digital yuan and digital currencies like bitcoin that U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday to ban transactions with eight Chinese software applications, including Alipay and Wechat Pay,” Gogel tweeted.
The analyst added:
It is interesting to note that on the same day the New York Stock Exchange decides 180 and renounces the delisting action in relation to China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom (Hong Kong).
In September 2020, the bitcoin proponent, Sylvain Saurel, also wrote a blog post about Trump banning these payment apps and how it would benefit bitcoin. “Financial transactions between the United States and China, or other Asian countries, will have to be done through another channel,” said Saurel on his blog. “We are talking about several hundred billion dollars exchanged each year.”
The author added:
Bitcoin, therefore, fully meets the need that would arise for millions of people in the Chinese diaspora living in the United States in the event of a total ban on Wechat. Bitcoin also has the advantage of being totally politically neutral. At a time when a new cold war is starting between China and the United States, this neutrality is a significant asset.
If the Trump administration forbids transactions using these eight apps, Asian Americans and their families living in Asia are likely to be negatively affected. However, the ban can be lifted, as a judge recently implemented a preliminary injunction against Trump’s recent ban in Tiktok as it was met with adversity. In addition, Reuters reports that the Chinese Ministry of Commerce has also issued a statement on the ban on payment applications, and the entity said that this goes against “fair competition”.
In addition, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross supported Trump’s decision and said he supports “the president’s commitment to protect Americans’ privacy and security from Chinese Communist Party threats”.
In addition, Ross insisted that the Commerce Department “will begin implementing the EO guidelines, including the identification of prohibited transactions” within 45 days.
Do you think Donald Trump banning eight China-based payment apps will be a boon for cryptocurrencies like bitcoin? Let us know what you think about this in the comments section below.
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