China has a complicated and confusing relationship with bitcoin and the blockchain. Back in 2017, the country with a booming e-commerce market had deliberately “ordered a ban on initial coin offerings (ICOs) and stopped direct trading between RMB and virtual currencies, including bitcoin,” according to the Chinese government’s state-run press agency Xinhua. And the ban worked–by July 2018, trades involving the Chinese currency renminbi (RMB) and bitcoin made up only 1% of all bitcoin trades in the world.

Despite China’s control over bitcoin, however, Paxful sees big volumes of trading from Chinese vendors, one of which being Chinese user howard22. In a vendor interview, we had the opportunity to learn about what he thinks about China’s stance on bitcoin, his favorite bitcoin platform, his experience trading bitcoin in China, and his advice for those starting out in crypto.

Who is howard22?

Howard22, otherwise known as Howard, is a bitcoin enthusiast, a business owner, and one of the biggest bitcoin vendors on Paxful. With nearly 170,000 completed trades, a BTC trade volume of 2,000 to 5,000 BTC, and over 56,000 good reviews on Paxful (at the time this article is written) over the short span of four years, Howard is one of the most trusted Paxful vendors when it comes to gift cards.

Howard’s story

Howard first got into bitcoin in 2014. His programmer friend from IBM wanted to trade with an Amazon gift card but asked to be paid in bitcoin. Not knowing what it was, Howard exclaimed, “What is bitcoin?” His friend then proceeded to explain the technology behind bitcoin and Howard conducted some serious research for the next 3 days. Over time, he learned more and more about bitcoin and grew hungry for more knowledge on the topic. “I just never stopped wanting to learn,” said Howard with a pair of desperate eyes. He became a firm believer of Bitcoin and thinks that bitcoin will be widely accepted in 10 years.

Your Everyday Crypto-enthusiast

Howard, just like anybody else, got into bitcoin initially for the money, saying that “trading bitcoin gave [him] an opportunity to make a lot of money, as tacky as that sounds. [He] just wanted to keep learning and make more money.” An insatiable hunger for knowledge and money can fire some great motivation!

Won’t Stop, Can’t Stop

Even though the Chinese government locks down on cryptocurrencies, Howard has never lost faith in bitcoin. He has heard stories of cryptocurrencies potentially being banned in the near future, but that didn’t stop him from his grind. When he first started trading, bitcoin was still widely accepted in China. In fact, he was buying and selling so easily to the point that he was trading about 20 bitcoins per day. However, as all the exchanges were shut down, he had to find a new platform.

In Search of a Crypto-paradise

One day when he was on Localbitcoins, he heard about Paxful from a user he was trading with. He gave Paxful a shot and has never looked back. He is now a big fan of our platform, happily praising that, “Paxful stands out because whenever [he] has an issue, [he] can always rely on the moderators to help [him].” Moreover, Howard likes Paxful for the many good gift card deals it offers on the site. As Howard joined Paxful in 2015, he has mounted a solid four years of experience on the platform. Thus, he has also kindly offered many suggestions on how our platform can be improved.

Advice to Paxful and crypto novices

“New users need to focus on minimizing risks and finding out who’s a scammer. It happens sometimes that on their first trade, new users get scammed. They then think that Paxful is unsafe and full of scammers.

Be sure to read all the tips on the site so you can learn how to minimize the risks as much as possible. We are trying our best to prevent scammers from trading on Paxful, but rest assured that there are also a lot of honest users out there. Don’t let one bad apple ruin your entire experience on Paxful!

As you can see in the case of howard22, it is not only safe to trade on Paxful, but also a profitable endeavor. Buying and selling bitcoin on Paxful is extremely easy and intuitive. If you have any questions, feel free to roam through our knowledge base that provides in-depth answers to frequently asked questions. If you still have any questions, feel free to contact our customer support via live chat or even message us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.