China’s oldest Bitcoin exchange, and among the largest in the world in volumes, BTC China, has made its first major announcement to customers since last month’s suspension of CNY deposits. In addition to placing restirctions on deposist, BTC China also announced that it was halting its promotion of commission-less exchanges. Commenting on the return of 0.3% fees, the company’s CEO and Co-Founder, Bobby Lee stated today that “We now strongly believe that a zero-commission fee structure creates a frictionless trading environment, which causes large price volatilities, and encourages market speculation. By re-introducing a trading commission, we hope to foster a healthier marketplace, aiming for better price stability, to benefit Bitcoin in the long term.”
Following on last month’s changes, BTC China is addressing both its commission and deposit structure. In terms of commissions, they are launching what they call “Maker-Taker fee structure”. Similar to fee structures at equity ECNs, BTC China will be applying a 0.3% commission to traders who are taking Liquidity (placing trades at current bid/ask prices), while providing a rebate to market makers that are providing liquidity onto the platform. While already an active exchange with deep liquidity, the new rebate structure should be helpful in attracting professional traders and miners to the platform.
Next, the company has officially announced a new deposit method called “BTCC Vouchers” ( Unofficially, BTCC Vouchers were added at the end of December as the deposit method appeared on account platforms) . Using a network system of ressellers, the vouchers provider BTC China customers the ability to purchase the vouchers with the value credited in CNY into their accounts.
Last, BTC China stated that it is reducing withdrawal fees from 1.0% to 0.5%, which they explained was based on demand from bitcoin sellers.
Since first announcing its halt of CNY deposits, volumes at BTC China plummeted, with rival Huobi taking over the number slot of volumes in China. However, the current policies could help propel BTC China back into its leading position. In addition, the current launch of the voucher system comes well timed, as it occurs following news that Alibaba’s Taobao unit would be halting sales of voucher type products for digital currencies.
Trading in bitcoins at BTC China is currently at the highs of the day, with prices around 5000CNY, after being as low as 4501 earlier in the day.
