[nhaehnle]

Thank you for the data on the Bitcoin market, that is indeed informative.

As for China though, I would like to point out that those trades must be seen in relation to the massive net flow of goods from China to the US (and other parts of the world). The trade you claimed is actually bigger than Chinese net exports for that quarter (which I find somewhat surprising, I have to admit, but probably that just balances out with what was happening in the past), but it's in the same order of magnitude.

If China did not do such trades regularly, the Yuan would be expected to appreciate in a noticeable way, making current trade arrangements more difficult to maintain. Essentially, if China did not make such trades, it would be forced to restructure its economy towards domestic consumption, and it would force the rest of the world to start producing more of their own stuff again, or swallow the price increases.

So to claim that the impact of those trades is not big is problematic.