Cryptocurrency BTCC–BTCC, the popular cryptocurrency exchange formerly known as BTC China, has returned to business after closing its doors last September. The exchange, which was at one point in the top three by volume of all crypto markets in China, has announced the launch of BTCC, a minor re-branding of their cryptocurrency trading platform.
In addition to returning to crypto-trading, the company has announced its intention to create a native token to the exchange, similar to other popular outlets such as Binance Coin (BNB) and KuCoin Shares (KCS). The current iteration of their token involves the collection of points by users, which can be accumulated through various tasks such as referrals and making trades. The website states that points will be redeemable by users in the future for the yet to be released native token, providing incentive for participants to get an early start on the exchange.
More significant to frequent traders, BTCC is offering a three-month, promotional zero fee period on trades, allowing for users to build points towards the BTCC token without incurring the fee associated with most trading platforms.
Given the truncated time span of the fee-less trading, it appears that BTCC will not be following other exchanges in instituting the trans-fee mining protocol made popular by CoinBene and Bit-Z. Trans-fee mining involves users paying an initial fee for transactions, which is then refunded at the end of the day for 100% of the original value in the exchange’s native token. Using this innovative model of imposing fees, both exchanges were able to significantly increase their daily trade value. Last week, following the implementation of trans-fee mining, CoinBene temporarily jumped to #1 in total exchange volume, with Bit-Z following close behind in second place.
BTCC Re-Opening Following the Closure of Bitcoin China
Bitcoin China, the original branding of BTCC, was one of the earliest cryptocurrency exchanges on the market, first founded in 2011. However, given the tight regulatory control of China and the potential for a cryptocurrency crackdown, the exchange announced its closure in September 2017. The move followed significant pressure from the Chinese government to ban ICOs, with crypto-based exchanges caught in the crossfire of uncertain regulation and potential forced termination. Bitcoin China missed out on the crypto-boom that occurred in the final months of 2017, when the market capitalization shot to 825 billion USD, with an accompanying exponential increase in trade volume. Rival U.S.-based exchange Coinbase reported triple-digit increases in users during the 2017 boom, reaching over 13 million customers in November–a number to rival that of brokerage firm Charles Schwab.
Speaking with CCN, Vice President of BTCC Aaron Choi was confident on the re-opening of their exchange and future coin integration,
“A soft launch has already been made and we decided to go ahead with the BTCC points system that will be fully convertible to BTCC tokens. We wanted to give something back to the community which has supported us through a rather difficult period. Initially, we started trading with just Bitcoin/USD pairs and eventually added Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash. We will be adding further coins according to what our customers tell us although these will probably be Top 10 anyway”.
As of writing, the newly minted BTCC exchange is offering Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash for trading, with all four coins paired to USD in addition to crypto-crypto markets.
