Kelly Le

The global Bitcoin hashrate is now on an uptrend as miners pushed out by China resettle on friendlier shores and resume investing big money in mining equipment.

Wire fraud, including cryptocurrency-related fraud, becomes fastest-growing crime as scams — some even involving China’s digital yuan project — proliferate.

China’s internet giant Tencent launched a blockchain-based digital IOU service on its flagship product WeChat, one of the nation’s most popular apps for messaging and payments.  Fast facts Aside from Wechat’s existing “mini receipt” and “mini contract,” Tencent says its new IOU function would allow friends to borrow money more easily from each other, according […]

Bitmain’s move comes amid China’s crypto mining crackdowns and AntPool’s shrinking hashrate. Is Bitmain gussying up for an IPO?

Three blockchain and crypto-related companies have donated hundreds of millions of yuan to China’s Henan Province, which has suffered deadly floods since last week. Fast facts Bitmain, a crypto mining firm was the first to announce a donation of 10 million yuan (US$1.54 million) on July 23 to a charity federation in Zhengzhou, the provincial […]

A digital yuan wallet app launched by China’s central bank will include an electricity bill payment feature designed by the country’s State Grid, according to Economic Information Daily, a local financial media outlet.  Fast facts Users will be able to pay their electricity bills through the digital yuan app directly and do not need to […]

Trade platform the Global Shipping Business Network has launched its first blockchain-based application in China to reduce paper usage and enhance efficiency and transparency in the shipping industry. Fast facts Named Cargo Release, the new blockchain-based app will connect the whole shipping supply chain, including shipping lines, consignees, their agents and terminals.  The app promises […]

Demand for non-fungible tokens appears insatiable as industry distances itself from crypto sector to avoid crackdown.

Privacy concerns prompt call for Americans to avoid e-CNY as lawmakers point to use of WeChat app to ‘surveil, threaten and arrest Chinese citizens.’

Central bank in apparent push for adoption ahead of Olympics as it doubles up on warning over non-state cryptocurrencies.

Bishijie’s suspension deprives users of industry news and community forum as Beijing continues campaign targeting cryptocurrency sector.

The9 and BIT Mining — non-crypto firms that pivoted to crypto mining during Bitcoin’s boom — now seek to ‘expand’ overseas.

Closure of center comes despite — or perhaps because of — professional pedigree of crypto exchange founder board members.

China’s blockchain-based digital invoicing systems are being increasingly put into large-scale use in major cities and provinces.  Fast facts Blockchain-based digital invoicing is being used in multiple sectors in Hainan Province, China’s only free-trade port. Digital invoicing systems are in use in 2,795 organizations, including courts, schools and banks, according to Securities Daily, a Chinese […]

Higher value of Ether investments softens blow to value of Bitcoin holdings.

The Chinese city of Xiong’an, a prototype so-called smart city, has launched a new round of digital yuan giveaways. Fast facts Unlike previous giveaways, which have been based on a lottery system, authorities are handing out 3 million yuan in e-CNY based on the number of steps people walk in a bid to encourage fitness. […]

Adoption of e-CNY for urban transport networks marks first step in wider introduction of state-backed digital money.

In the last installment of a 3-part series on blockchain in Asia, Forkast.News examines: Everyone knows money has value. But does it also have ‘values’?

Agricultural Bank of China has set up a fintech innovation center in Xiong’an, a model for a so-called smart city.

Chinese cryptocurrency exchange Huobi has stopped providing crypto derivative trading services to users in China and Taiwan.

How China’s deployment of the digital yuan intertwines economics with geopolitics and concrete with virtual infrastructure, from Cambodia to the Caribbean.

Hong Kong’s financial secretary has reiterated the city’s determination to develop digital versions of the Hong Kong dollar and the mainland Chinese yuan.

Long before most governments, the Asian superpower saw the potential in Bitcoin’s technology to spawn the next internet and a new form of money.

Urged on by the authorities, banks have wasted little time in putting e-CNY infrastructure in place, but now comes the hard part — getting people to use it.

Ant Chain, Ant Group’s technology brand, has launched a new blockchain communication technology at Ant Chain’s first developer conference.

Chinese payment app Alipay has started selling non-fungible token artwork, finding buyers for a combined 8,000 editions of two artworks within one day.

Kazakhstan offers nearby bolthole as North America and Europe beckon.

Two of China’s largest state-owned banks, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), are now offering two-way exchange between fiat cash yuan and e-CNY digital currency through more than 3,000 ATMs in Beijing, according to reports in local media.  Over 3,000 ATMs in Beijing managed by ICBC […]

Money may be easy to part with when it’s free, but as Shanghai’s first experimental e-CNY giveaway shows, it’s not so easy finding shops to take it.

Chinese homegrown public blockchain platform Chang’An Chain has been equipped with 96-core blockchain-specific chips, and 23 companies joined its ecosystem yesterday.

Ant Group, Ping An Group and Tencent Cloud ranked as the top three among 50 leading Chinese industrial blockchain enterprises in 2020.

Cryptocurrency mining prohibition in Xinjiang and Qinghai follows Inner Mongolia ban.

Beijing-based Red Date Technology — the face of China’s ambitious nationwide blockchain service network — receives a big investment boost.

Huobi, OKEx and Binance have been blocked by the country’s most popular internet search engines and social media platforms.

Following blockchain’s mention as a next-wave technology in China’s five-year plan, Huawei unveils applications for government and in-house services.

Following a digital yuan giveaway announced for Beijing last week, Shanghai will distribute 350,000 red envelopes to people across the city during next week’s Dragon Boat Festival.

Microblog platform Weibo has blocked more than 30 influential Chinese cryptocurrency-related accounts amid a series of actions by Beijing against crypto mining and trading.

China is set to hand out 200,000 virtual red envelopes, each containing 200 yuan (US$31.30) of the country’s prototype digital currency, to Beijing residents.

The latest Bitcoin mining difficulty adjustment, made at 1 a.m. UTC on May 30, saw the difficulty of Bitcoin mining drop 15.97%.

Energy regulators in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan, which has abundant hydropower resources, will hold a seminar on June 2 to assess the province’s cryptocurrency mining industry, fanning hopes among miners that the beleaguered sector may be given a reprieve from its recent hardships in China.

BitDeer, one of China’s biggest crypto mining operators, blocked access to anyone using a mainland Chinese IP address last night.

The Chinese region of Inner Mongolia – once a thriving cryptocurrency mining hub that has recently enacted a series of measures to rein in the sector – has unveiled eight new proposals designed to give added force to its recently imposed, all-out ban on crypto mining.

Chinese authorities’ latest regulatory offensive against the crypto industry may not be as bad for the sector as it appears.

Hong Kong is poised to ban small investors from buying cryptocurrencies, while making exchanges get licences. Industry experts discuss how this might play out. 

Hong Kong-listed beauty app Meitu and other companies that have invested in cryptocurrencies have seen millions of dollars wiped off the value of their stock following the huge global Bitcoin sell-off this week.

The Chinese region of Inner Mongolia is urging members of the public to report all cases of cryptocurrency mining, setting up a reporting hotline, an office address and an email address to solicit tips for law enforcement authorities.

Chinese cryptocurrency miner BIT Mining has signed a deal to build a data center in Texas.

Privately owned Chinese lender continues to target blockchain opportunities as it remains shut out of Beijing’s digital yuan project.

Chutian Dragon and IDEX Biometrics offer DCEP digital currency wallets with fingerprint recognition. The companies say the feature enhances security.

The new self-proclaimed eco-friendly crypto leverages unused disk space — but Chia miners are buying out new hard drives and equipment instead.

China’s DCEP digital currency, not yet officially launched, take another leap forward with unveiling of prototype ATMs that convert foreign money to e-CNY.

With Inner Mongolia banning crypto-mining and Xinjiang expected to soon follow, China’s crypto miners are turning to green energy or moving overseas.

China intensifies its nationwide digital currency testing via JD.com paying employee salaries in digital yuan and Ant Group’s MYbank offering e-yuan services.

Beijing’s new warning against cryptocurrency comes days before regulations aimed at preventing illegal crypto fundraising take effect May 1.

One year after China unveiled a digital currency via testing, its potential for displacing dollar diplomacy is becoming more understood. Is the US worried yet?

China’s central bank is exploring a new stance towards Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, now calling them investment vehicles – but not currency

Look for nifty DCEP wallets to make a debut at the 2022 Beijing Olympics

A young executive with Beosin, tasked to protect cryptocurrency that police recovered from another crime, allegedly then lost it all in a Bitcoin bet gone bad.

Shares are up 75% since the beauty selfie app company began investing in Bitcoin and Ether to try to boost its flagging fortunes.

Rising Bitcoin prices have inspired a wave of crypto-related Ponzi schemes, fraudulent giveaways and other scams around the world — especially in China.

High-tech solutions like blockchain, IoT, NFC and DLT are increasingly used to authenticate fine wine and detect counterfeits in China and around the world.

China’s new five-year plan — its blueprint for development — pours resources into ‘new infrastructure’ like blockchain technology and DCEP’s digital yuan.

Headlined by crypto art superstars Beeple and Robert Alice, the in-person exhibit also features works by Chinese artists. Next stop: Shanghai.

Boosted by state incentives, companies in China are filing more blockchain patent applications than anywhere else. But how many patents got awarded?

Another financially troubled Chinese company turns to blockchain to improve its bottom line — this time, by buying up cryptocurrency a la Tesla.

China’s Twitter-like platform disabled the crypto exchanges’ accounts on the same day China vowed to ‘crack down’ on businesses that sound like crypto.

One of world’s biggest bitcoin-producing regions will soon ban cryptocurrency mining to meet China’s clean air goals. Where will all those miners go?

Inspired by bitcoin’s boom, companies with no business in crypto are pivoting to cryptocurrency mining. A New York investors lawsuit offers a cautionary tale.

Now that China’s censors are blocking Clubhouse, what are the popular audio networking app’s mainland members doing? VPNs are the new velvet ropes.

Industry insiders warn that proposed rule to allow only ‘professional investors’ to buy and sell crypto could drive companies to crypto-friendlier shores.

Tesla’s bitcoin dive is recharging an already hot crypto market, worsening the run on new mining equipment and heating up the second-hand rig market.

Casper Network goes big on its ‘first of many’ expansion ambitions in Asia by receiving the nod to join both BSN China and BSN International.