A 31-year old former Virtu trader has created a platform that could help bitcoin traders in China get around a ban
A 31-year-old is looking to revolutionize the world of cryptocurrencies with a blockchain version of the New York Stock Exchange.
Michael Oved, a former trader at Virtu, the high-frequency trading firm, founded AirSwap, a decentralized exchange, to provide a platform for buyers and sellers to meet anonymously, according to Bloomberg.
It does this using smart contracts, a computer protocol based on Ethereum's blockchain technology that facilitates and enforces a contract or exchange.
"There are no user accounts and identities are hidden as trading is solely on a peer-to-peer basis," wrote Bloomberg News' Matthew Leising, whose profile on Oved is worth the read.
The anonymity of the platform could subvert China's attempt to crackdown on bitcoin, according to Leising.
“It’s impossible to shut down, and you don’t even need an account,” Oved told Bloomberg. “People won’t even know Chinese traders are on the system.”
Chinese regulators banned initial coin offerings, a cryptocurrency-based fundraising method. And reports suggest the country is moving forward with a wide-ranging crackdown on bitcoin trading.