China: crypto speculators are now in the world of footwear

According to a report by the People’s Bank of China, it seems that in China, after the crypto ban, the latest speculators have engaged in the resale of expensive, limited edition sports shoes.

The Shanghai branch of PBoC focused its attention on the sneaker industry, claiming that the sector has turned into a financial bubble and highlighting risks such as the illegal collection of funds and pyramid schemes. 

Just like in the past with cryptocurrencies, today in China this market seems to be ready to attract the same kind of investors, showing the same dark side.

This new expensive habit is indeed seeing incredible events, such as the sale of a pair of Air Jordans at a price of $10,740, leading to the emergence of high-end sneaker markets with $1 billion in business volumes on apps like Nice, DoNew and Poizon.  

These platforms, however, seem to have allowed users to trade shoes as if they were shares, a feature that seems to have triggered speculation. 

On WeChat there are groups dedicated to this market just like in the crypto world. The CEO of Sino Global Capital, Matthew Graham has pointed out: 

“WeChat ‘investor groups’ have proliferated, with group names like ‘XX Sneaker to da moon! These are similar to the cryptocurrency speculation groups that appeared during 2017’s crypto boom”.

This increase in advertising in the sector has stimulated the incredible volatility in the trading prices of shoes that are totally disconnected from the real value.

Moreover, it seems that in the country where the crypto ban is in place, it is possible, through this mechanism, to filter out niche e-commerce platforms with important crypto-exchanges, making it possible to buy bitcoin and altcoins. 

To make the idea practical, platforms like 55.com allow users to buy fractions of a shoe, represented by tokens. Just like with cryptocurrencies, it is possible to invest in the current Air Jordan pair without buying them in their entirety but only by buying a small part in tokens that can be resold to other buyers.

A new method in China to access the crypto world that joins the existing ones, despite the official ban.