Chinese 'damas' mad for bitcoin  

比特币价一年暴涨40倍 "中国大妈"转炒比特币

(ECNS) -- With the Chinese market increasingly optimistic about the digital currency's potential growth, an online bitcoin platform has released that 40 percent of its VIP traders are Chinese women, the Beijing Youth Daily reported.[Special coverage]

Bitcoin has been surging to new highs worldwide since July, and the price of one bitcoin once hit a record high of 2,700 yuan ($443) on huobi.com, a Chinese online bitcoin platform.

Chinese trading activity in bitcoin has grown as well. By the end of October, 100,000 bitcoins had been traded each day, accounting for half of the global transaction volume, according to the Genesis Block, a research firm that follows bitcoin.

More than 45,000 bitcoins have been traded on huobi.com, and female traders dominate 40 percent of VIP accounts, whose turnover exceeds 1,000 yuan, according to data released by the website.

The demand surge in China is widely seen to be connected with the acceptance of bitcoins by Baidu Jiasule, a firewall service for websites co-developed by an online security firm and Baidu, China's version of Google. It is reported that Shanda Tiandi, a real estate developer in Shanghai, also accepts bitcoin payments.

However, speculation on bitcoins also involves risks. GBL, a Hong Kong-registered trading platform has suddenly closed, leaving hundreds with more than 20 million yuan in combined losses, as the digital currency exists only online.

The word "dama" became viral online after WSJ.com used it in its video news while reporting on the influence of Chinese women in the gold market.