Following US President Trump issuing executive orders to ban TikTok and WeChat, Tencent Holdings lost nearly $54bn USD in market capitalisation.

Tencent Holdings, which owns WeChat, saw its market capitalisation plunge to $632bn on Friday, as investors took to the lifeboats. The Chinese conglomerate has said it is reviewing its options and will make an announcement shortly. 

Meanwhile, ByteDance, owner of TikTok, has said it will fight Trump’s executive order in court. 

The US ban on the apps is expected to come into force on 20 September 2020. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Given the state of relations between the US and China right now (China blamed for COVID-19, the worsening trade war, and China’s military provocations in the South China Sea and around Taiwan) it’s hard to see how Tencent will get anywhere with legal action. 

Though the White House has made it clear the bans only affect the specific apps, it should be remembered that Tencent also fully or partly owns some of the world’s biggest companies, especially in the entertainment and gaming sectors, including Riot Games, so it has the ability to cause the US some economic pain – for example by relocating business assets and pulling investment in the US. 

Staying with US-China tensions, at the end of July CEO and founder of financial consultancy firm deVere Group, Nigel Green, said the escalating situation could lead to Bitcoin (BTC) replacing gold as the ultimate safe haven asset. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

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