OKCoin Raises $10 Million To Become China's Largest Bitcoin Exchange 48
edibobb writes "Despite recent cryptocurrency crackdowns by the Chinese government, OKCoin announced a round of $10 million funding by three prominent venture capital firms and other investors. OKCoin is supposed to be the largest bitcoin exchange in China. From the article: 'Back in November 2013, the focus of the bitcoin community was on China – the world’s hub for bitcoin trading. At that time, BTC China was the biggest exchange in the world, having managed to raise a $5m Series A funding round from Lightspeed Venture Partners (Snapchat, Nest). There were even rumours that a bigger round was in the works for the young company. However, things change quickly. After the Chinese government began regulating bitcoin in December, trade volume plummeted and the world’s top exchange was no longer Chinese.'"
Re:The point of an exchange (Score:4, Informative)
1) If you want to use bitcoins, you have to buy some bitcoins. Originally you'd buy them either from a miner who was producing coins, or from someone else further down the food chain. That person takes your cash and transfers some coins into your crytographic wallet.
2) If you want to make or receive a payment with bitcoins - transfer them to someone else, in other words - you simply send a transaction out onto the bitcoin network, transferring the money between the wallets as approved by both parties.
Both of these processes are slowed down by the fact that the bitcoin network takes time to verify a transaction, passing the transaction around until it has been cryptographically set in stone. It's more convenient to have a completely ordinary bank, that pays in and out and transfers money between its customers' accounts rapidly, then balances its books with non-customers and other banks on the bitcoin network on its own time. That is a bitcoin exchange.