Bitcoins 'Not Just A China Thing' Says BTC China CEO

Bobby Lee, co-founder and CEO of BTC China, China's largest bitcoin exchange, commented on the country's decision to prohibit banks from accepting bitcoin as currency on CNBC's Fast Money Monday night. “So financial institutions and banks are not allowed to do business with bitcoin because it is not a currency, but on the other hand, bitcoin trading has been legitimized, so people are allowed to trade, buy and sell bitcoins in China,” said Lee. This means BTC China, and other bitcoin exchange sites, can continue business. “Bitcoin has become a worldwide phenomenon in terms of an asset class, so it's not just a China thing,” said Lee. Related: Bitcoin: More Than a Bit Dangerous “And further more, you don't have to have to be a currency in order for it be store value. There are many other asset classes that are good stores of value that are not necessarily currency. So I think bitcoin has fallen into that. It is a virtual good, virtual commodity, that's what the legislature has defined it as.” Many analysts have compare bitcoins to a “virtual gold” opposed to classifying them as a pure digital currency, and China's leaders all agree that it's a commodity, which is fitting to the bitcoin's volatile nature. Lee isn't worried about bitcoins loosing their momentum in China, or anywhere else, anytime soon, and investor interest globally seems to back that up. Jason Cunningham had no position with the mentioned entities while writing this article. Visit Jason on Twitter at @JasonCunningham and @Benzinga.