Governments meet crypto industry; Hope for Bitcoin miners in Sichuan | The Daily Forkast

Transcript

Welcome to The Daily Forkast, June 3rd, 2021. I’m Angie Lau, Editor-in-Chief of Forkast.News. Let’s get you up to speed from Asia to the world. Well, around Asia, governments and key players in the crypto space are taking a seat at the table this week as discussions heat up on how to regulate this growing industry.

First up, Korea’s Financial Services Commission meets with 20 coin exchanges. And top of the agenda — most likely future guidelines and legislation for those exchanges.

“Both the Financial Services Commission and the local banks have not provided official statements. In turn, crypto exchanges have remained puzzled by this lack of information.”

Another central theme, the controversial 20% tax due to be implemented in January next year in Korea on profits above US$2,200 made from crypto trading. But investors have cried foul as the threshold for traditional assets is actually over US$40,000. So that’s a huge gap — no doubt will be addressed. And over in China, crypto mining is in focus. Officials in Sichuan met with local electricity companies and crypto trading platforms on Wednesday to consider what impact shutting down crypto mining in the region could have. Because contrary to popular belief, crypto mining helps use up excess hydropower electricity in Sichuan, which otherwise would go to waste.

And so, despite Beijing’s recent clampdown on the sector in Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia, local media reports also suggest that the government might not take such a radical stance in Sichuan.

Another reason? Well, Sichuan’s abundant supply of hydroelectric power is so plentiful in the province that local governments offer electricity for mere pennies in order to boost gross domestic product or GDP. Regulators continue to discuss, which is a hopeful sign, as no detailed regulations for the region has yet been set.

Well, it’s been a healthy day for Bitcoin, with a price rising almost 4% to nearly US$38,700 by the close of the Asian trading day, at 4:00 pm Hong Kong time.

And in the top ten for cryptocurrencies in a day of mostly greens across the board, the big winners were Binance, which climbed just over 10% and Polkadot, which soared by almost 14%.

And finally today, SC Ventures — Standard Chartered’s its innovation unit — and Hong Kong-based BC Technology Group’s OSL have joined forces to launch a digital asset trading platform.

Now, why is this important? Well, OSL is the only digital asset platform to be licensed with the Securities and Futures Commission in Hong Kong, and their technology will underpin the venture while Standard Chartered brings its global network to the platform.

“Having that brand — I guess that Standard Chartered brand attached to the venture — I guess just really completes the picture, perhaps for some of those institutional participants who have been just waiting for that certainty and surety to be able to enter. And I think that’s what this venture will bring.”

Institutional interest in digital assets has been on the rise for months with Singapore’s DBS Bank as well, taking advantage earlier this year with the launch of its crypto exchange.

Trench says such platforms are clear signs that digital assets are becoming part of the mainstream. The Standard Chartered initiative is expected to launch in the fourth quarter of this year, subject to regulatory approval, of course,

And that’s The Daily Forkast. I’m Angie Lau. Until next time.