China State Media Make Rare Reports Calling Crypto 2020's Best Performing Asset

Sep 25, 2020 at 11:03 UTCUpdated Sep 25, 2020 at 11:08 UTC.Several Chinese state-owned media have made coordinated reports describing cryptocurrencies as the year's top performing investment.

China Central Television, the country's top broadcaster, published a three-minute news clip on Friday that highlighted crypto assets have soared by 70% this year so far.

The report added that "Cryptocurrency has undoubtedly become the top performing investment" among various global assets.

CCTV's clip followed the state-owned news agency Xinhua, which published an online article Thursday entitled "Cryptocurrency is this year's 'No. 1 asset.'".

Cankaoxiaoxi is one of the longest running state media that selectively translates news reports from foreign sources, including those that are normally blocked by China's Great Firewall.

The CCTV clip immediately drew wide attention from the Chinese crypto community.

Many started sharing the clip on WeChat news feeds as a bullish signal since the unusual neutral-to-positive tone is seemingly at odds with China's stance that crypto speculation could undermine financial stability.

Such a rare and coordinated effort also sparked some to wonder what the real intention and nuance might be, since state-owned media in China typically carry political agendas.

Citing Bloomberg's index, CCTV said the yield of crypto asset has this year surpassed that of gold, which has risen only 20%.The broadcaster said various countries' economic stimulus plans following the coronavirus pandemic and the recent mania for decentralized finance contributed to the surge of values in cryptocurrencies.

It also cautioned that the risks for retail investors still remain high given crypto assets' volatility.