Bitcoin and bitcoin cash (BCH) as a protest against China

The American Crypto Association described it nicely: “Bitcoin is designed to give oppressed citizens the opportunity to straighten their backs and fight back. If your government or bank is corrupt, and you cannot use the credit or financial products you need for your family, cryptocurrency’s are the answer. “

Pricerite accepts bitcoin, ether and litecoin

The Pricerite store is located in a popular shopping center in Kowloon Bay in Hong Kong. They have reported on Facebook that bitcoin, ether and litecoin are now being accepted in all their branches.

The cryptocurrencies are converted at the cash register from the local currency, the Hong Kong Dollars (HKD). It is also possible to pay via the lightning network.

Bitcoin cash on water bottles

Apart from Pricerite, you can see that bitcoin cash is becoming increasingly popular with demonstrators. This is because measures are being taken to promote crypto as an alternative to the HKD.

Yahoo writes that this popularity is due to Genesis Block, they operate crypto cash machines in Hong Kong, under the name CoinHere. CoinHere mainly trades in bitcoin cash. Genesis Block also received international donations, with which they bought bottles of water for the demonstrators.

QR codes are printed on these water bottles, allowing recipients to donate bitcoin cash quickly and easily to buy extra water.

In addition, Genesis Block provided free umbrellas for the demonstrators. The umbrellas bear the bitcoin symbol and are a nod to the 2014 “Umbrella Revolution” in Hong Kong, at the time hundreds of thousands of residents took to the streets in protest.

Redeem for dollars

The protest is a classic example of a popular uprising. Certainly now that the threat from Chinese troops is increasing, they are already ready at the Hong Kong border. There is large-scale protest, but even small acts do not go unnoticed.

Business Insider reports that confidence in the Hong Kong dollar is declining, these are increasingly being exchanged for dollars. Since 1983, the Hong Kong dollar has had a linked exchange rate system that links it to the US dollar at a ratio of 7.8 to 1.

Messages on LIHKG, the local version of Reddit, show hundreds of photos of people withdrawing cash from banks and ATMs. Protesters even travel to multiple ATMs to bypass the 20,000 HKD limit per transaction.

The protests began in June, and the price of bitcoin rose immediately at the time. But that is also because Trump and China were engaged in their trade war. The price rose sharply locally, as substantial premiums are placed on top of the bitcoin rate.