China

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 […]

Iranian state electric company Tavanir has warned judicial officials about Chinese cryptocurrency miners coming to Iran, an influx that could worsen the country’s power outage problems, according to local media reports. Fast facts Tavanir CEO Mohammad Hussein Motevallizadeh said in a letter published by local news website Eghtesadnews that the Chinese government’s crackdown on crypto […]

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

Top blockchain and crypto news: Is Amazon taking up BTC? Robinhood’s share sale deserves scrutiny. Did Huobi jump or was it pushed?

Closure of blockchain business may be related to regulatory concerns, but unlikely to hit crypto industry hard, observers say.

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 […]

Chinese cryptocurrency mining rig maker Bitmain has partnered with Enegix, which runs one of the biggest crypto mining data centers in Kazakhstan, to host its Antminer machines in the Central Asian nation. Fast facts Bitmain said in a statement on Friday that it had joined hands with Enegix, a data center operator in Kazakhstan, to […]

BIT Mining — a New York Stock Exchange-listed company that only months ago became a big investor in Chinese cryptocurrency mining — has decided to exit its Chinese lottery-related business and focus more on mining outside the country. Fast facts BIT Mining, formerly known as 500.com, has operated online sports lottery services, but announced on […]

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 […]

China’s trial of e-CNY, the digital version of the national currency, the yuan, has extended to the insurance industry, with conglomerate Ping An encouraging medical staff in the southern city of Shenzhen to pay premiums for a Covid-19 insurance plan using the new currency. Fast facts One Ping An branch in Shenzhen is offering insurance […]

Optimum Mining Host-Black Rock Petroleum plan comes as Canaan seeks greener operations through Czech partnership.

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

Plentiful electricity, cold climate are among drawcards as Chinese mine operators flee crackdown at home.

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.’

Chinese fireworks artist Cai Guoqiang has entered the world of non-fungible tokens, recently auctioning off his first NFT work for US$2.5 million. Fast facts Cai’s work “Transient Eternity — 101 Ignitions of Gunpowder Paintings,” commissioned by the Rockbund Art Museum in Shanghai, was auctioned on TR Lab for US$2.5 million after a 48-hour bidding period […]

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

Hong Kong newspaper the South China Morning Post is making a foray into the world of non-fungible tokens in the latest move by a Hong Kong publisher to preserve content through blockchain technology. Fast facts The SCMP today released its “ARTIFACT” lite paper, a project designed to advocate “a standardized metadata structure for recording accounts […]

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

Proliferation of copycat non-fungible tokens based on media image sparks fresh concerns over authenticity, creators’ rights.

As issuer Circle prepares to list and China sounds the alarm over speculation, the mood among regulators is mixed, despite stablecoins’ clear appeal to investors.

In the first of a four-part series, Forkast.News looks at how non-fungible tokens may be changing who calls the tune in the recording business.

Ban on branded content covers range of financial services and ‘get-rich-quick’ schemes boosted by influencers with young followings.

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

Warning comes as Beijing ramps up efforts to internationalize China’s currency through launch of digital yuan.

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 […]

China’s central bank has reiterated its ban on cryptocurrency trading and yesterday said it had ordered a company in Beijing suspected of offering software services for crypto trading to shut down as part of an ongoing nationwide crackdown on the crypto industry. Fast facts A Beijing office of the People’s Bank of China and a […]

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

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.

Bitcoin’s hashrate fell to 58.7971 exa hashes per second on Sunday — the lowest point since August 2019.

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

As China shuts down crypto mining over environmental concerns, miners are moving next door to Kazakhstan, one of the most coal-rich countries in the world.

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.

Chinese crypto mining rig maker Bitmain has decided to suspend global spot sales of its Antminer machines, as some of its clients are reselling their rigs.

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

Chinese mining rig maker Bitmain has stopped selling in-stock cryptocurrency mining equipment amid a plunge in the prices following a shutdown of major mining pools in China.

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.

The next generation of mining hot spots are shaping out in the aftermath of China’s mining exodus as Upbit’s delisting generates new enemies.

Kazakhstan offers nearby bolthole as North America and Europe beckon.

The People’s Bank of China has told the country’s big banks and other finance sector heavyweights to cut off financing sources for cryptocurrency transactions.

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 […]

The Bitcoin hashrate plunged over the weekend following a clampdown on cryptocurrency mining by the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan.

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.

China’s crypto clampdown reaches Sichuan. A sneak preview into how China’s digital yuan works.

Miners face imminent shutdown as power companies told to cut electricity, according to multiple reports.

Chinese stock trading app Futu Niuniu has suspended Chicago Mercantile Exchange cryptocurrency futures services and stopped supplying crypto market information.

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

Chinese authorities provide more details on its notice issued to the local mining industry while South Korean exchange start ‘coin thinning’.

Following rumors of a possible ban on cryptocurrency mining in the province last week, its energy regulator has clarified an approach to the industry that looks set to rein in rogue operators.

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

China’s crypto mining crackdown continues while Indian finance authorities probe one of the nation’s largest exchange WazirX.

China’s central bank has unveiled four specifications of digital wallets for the country’s state-issued digital currency, the e-CNY.

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.

Xinjiang and Qinghai regions in China are now banning cryptocurrency mining, after Inner Mongolia tightened its crypto mining ban last month.

Bitcoin investors in China saw greater returns in 2020 than almost any other nation — second only to the US.

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.

It is important to distinguish between developing a digital currency for currency digitalization and digitalization of assets or cryptocurrencies so that China can be more focused on preventing risks in the financial sector, said Fan Gang, a Peking University professor and a prominent advocate in China for economic reform. Fast Facts: In a keynote speech […]

Regulators Hainan province have issued a warning against illegal fundraising schemes using crypto or blockchain..

Governments meet up with the crypto industry to discuss how to regulate the booming industry as BC Group’s OSL ties up with SC Ventures.

Chinese Bitcoin mining hardware maker Canaan says overseas sales accounted for almost four-fifths of its revenue during the first quarter of 2021.

Green crypto mining operations should be spared China’s recent crackdown on the sector, according to the CEO of Canaan Inc.

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.

China-based trading apps Futu and Tiger Brokers have announced plans to move into crypto to compete outside China with apps such as Robinhood and eToro.

Former People’s Bank of China Director Yao Qian says that the country’s digital yuan is not a surveillance tool for the government.

Since Beijing’s announcement of tighter restrictions on cryptocurrency trading earlier this month, investors have found a workaround in over-the-counter and peer-to-peer transactions.