US whistleblower Edward Snowden says China's crypto ban has made bitcoin stronger

• Whistleblower Edward Snowden said in a tweet Sunday that China's crypto ban has made bitcoin stronger.
• China outlawed all crypto activity in late September.
• Bitcoin's decentralized nature means it operates largely outside the traditional financial system.

US whistleblower Edward Snowden believes China's recent ban on trading and mining cryptocurrencies has only served to make bitcoin stronger, according to one of his tweets on Sunday.

Snowden - a former US National Security Agency contractor who rose to fame when he leaked a number of NSA documents in 2013 - is the chief executive of Freedom of Press, an organization that works to protect whistleblowers and accepts crypto donations.

China said it would ban all crypto activity on September 24. At the time, the news only sent bitcoin down 6% to hover near $40,000, because the market had already largely factored in the risk of tighter restrictions after a series of government crackdowns in May.

"China even banned it, but it just made bitcoin stronger," Snowden said in a tweet, claiming there has been a global campaign by governments to undermine support for and public understanding of digital currencies.

Bitcoin is the most widely traded cryptocurrency, with a market cap of $895 billion, according to Coinmarketcap. The coin was last down 1% on the day to trade around $47,550 by 07:37 a.m. ET Monday, according to Bitfinex. It's gained around 65% so far this year and nearly 350% in the last 12 months.

Snowden was retweeting a post of his from March 2020, when stocks, cryptocurrencies, commodities and other assets crashed, when the pandemic forced the global economy to a near-halt.