Asia Express

China issues legal guidance that gives NFT markets hope, Bitget invests $10M in Indian startups, SEBA Bank’s Hong Kong license: Asia Express.

China to protect NFTs 

In a surprise move, the Chinese government has guaranteed legal protection for NFTs.

In response to a series of often conflicting judicial opinions on the state of cryptocurrency in the country, the Chinese government has officially issued a legal commentary on dealing with cases of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) theft and their status as virtual property protected by law. 

According to a November 9 publication by China’s state-controlled Southwest University of Political Science & Law (SUPL), digital collectibles such as NFTs unlike ordinary online images conform to the characteristics of online virtual property due to their non-tamperable features, unique codes, and detailed transaction information.

“This highlights the scarcity of digital collections, which have both use value and exchange value,” jurists write. “According to Article 127 of the Civil Code, it can be seen that from the perspective of civil law, online virtual property is regarded as an object of rights that ‘is different from property rights, creditor’s rights, intellectual property rights, etc. and is protected by civil law’.”

In addition, jurists state that the theft of NFTs therefore carries applicable criminal penalties, which can be evaluated in conjunction with related offenses committed during the course of the theft, such as hacking into computer systems or data theft.

“Digital collections have technical characteristics that cannot be copied, indicating that the holder has exclusive control. If the digital collection is stolen by others, the holder loses exclusive control,” jurists from SUPL say.

“Although our country has not yet opened the secondary circulation market for NFTs, consumers can rely on the trading platform to complete operations such as purchase, collection, transfer, and destruction, and achieve exclusive possession, use, and disposal rights.”

China has seen a rise in civil disputes this year involving cryptocurrencies, with some courts ruling that virtual assets are protected by law, and others not. Last month, Chinese government-owned newspaper China Daily announced a 2.813 million Chinese yuan ($390,000) grant for third-party contractors to design an NFT platform. In May, Chinese prosecutors announced they would crack down on “pseudo-innovations” within its NFT market.

Bitget’s to invest in India 

Cryptocurrency exchange Bitget will invest $10 million over five years in startups primarily based in India. 

According to the November 7announcement, startups will have the opportunity to pitch to Bitget and venture capitalists including Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Ventures, and Draper Labs, during the BUIDL for Web3 multi-chain summit in India.

“Bitget aims to identify valuable and promising projects in the crypto space and provide them with comprehensive support, accelerating innovation in emerging technologies,” the exchange says. To qualify, projects must have a minimum viable product and hold multiple layers of security functionalities with auditing transparency.

Gracy Chen, Bitget’s managing director, says that India is “the most wanted place to invest in Asia,” citing its constant advancements in blockchain and overall entrepreneurial spirit. The exchange’s previous investments in Indian Web3 startups include AI-based script generator Grease Pencil, AI resume generator HAIr, and AI dermatological app Derma360.

Linekong’s $15M Bitcoin Fund 

Linekong Interactive, a Chinese tech firm listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (HKEX), will kickstart a $15 million fund dedicated to revitalizing the Bitcoin (BTC) ecosystem. 

Accordingto founder Wang Feng, the new fund is dubbed “BTC Next” and will accelerate novel projects developing asset issuance, exchanges, virtual machines, NFTs, and GameFi protocols on the Bitcoin blockchain.

“BTC NEXT will participate in the research and investment of Bitcoin network ecological assets as early as possible, publish crypto investment portfolios regularly, and update the list of Bitcoin ecological crypto assets participating in investment,” Wang writes.

The Bitcoin ecosystem has expanded greatly this year with the invention of Ordinals and Inscriptions, two novel data storage methods that, together, allow users to mint unique digital assets on the Bitcoin blockchain. The market cap of Bitcoin tokens minted on the BRC-20 standard, mirrored after the Ethereum ERC-20 standard, has surpassed $1.4 billion since inception.

Linekong was founded in Beijing in 2007 with a focus on video games and cinema. In 2018, Wang Feng resigned as CEO of Linekong to focus on blockchain, founding several projects in the nonfungible tokens, decentralized finance, and Bitcoin mining space. He returned to Linekong as CEO in 2022 after an invitation from the firms board of directors to better integrate Linekong products with Web3.

SEBA Bank approved in Hong Kong 

Swiss fintech SEBA Bank has received a license from Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission. 

The license permits SEBA Bank to conduct regulated activities in Hong Kong and distribute virtual asset-backed securities, advise on crypto assets, and manage crypto investment accounts on behalf of clients. It also permits SEBA Bank to distribute, manage, and advise on traditional securities, such as stocks.

“Hong Kong has been at the center of the crypto economy since Bitcoins inception, and we are very pleased to have added this Hong Kong license with the full approval from the SFC to our existing licenses in Switzerland (FINMA) and Abu Dhabi (FSRA),” comments SEBA Bank CEO Franz Bergmueller. Meanwhile, Amy Yu, the firm’s Asia-Pacific CEO, praises the SFC for creating a “facilitative” environment during the licensing process.

Cointelegraph previously reported that SEBA Bank launched institutional Ethereum staking services in September. In early 2022, the firm raised $119 million in a Series C funding round. 

Subscribe

The most engaging reads in blockchain. Delivered once a week.

Email address

SUBSCRIBE

Asia Express: Ringleaders of $308M P2P crypto laundering scheme jailed in China, Visa’s Hong Kong CBDC trial a success, Hashkey token.

Visa completes e-HKD CBDC trial with HSBC and Hang Seng 

Hong Kong is one step closer to a central bank digital currency (CBDC) with the release of its successful e-HKD phase 1 results in collaboration with Visa, HSBC, and Hang Seng Bank.

According to the November 1 announcement, Visa said that it achieved “near real-time” finality with transfers involving tokenized deposits of the digital Hong Kong dollar (e-HKD).

“Tokenized deposits were burned on the sending bank’s ledger, minted on the receiving bank’s ledger, and simultaneously settled interbank via the simulated wholesale CBDC layer,” the payments firm wrote.

“This would provide for settlement in an atomic manner with better streamlining of any operational dependencies imposed by financial institutions and other intermediaries, thus improving liquidity management.”

The payment processor also stated that its e-HKD test pilot was functional 24/7, surpassing the uptime of traditional financial systems, which typically don’t function after hours or on weekends. In addition, the firm wrote that “tokenized deposits can be fully transacted while remaining encrypted, without revealing information about identity, balances, or transaction amounts to non-bank users.”

For its next steps, Visa plans to explore the use of e-HKD in tokenized asset markets and programmable finance to automate real estate transactions. “In this pilots Property Payments use case, the payment from a buyer transferring the remaining balance tokens to the property developer may be automated upon reaching the completion date of the contract, minimising lag time in closure of the process,” the company said. Other areas of research interest include expansion of retail solutions and digital cross-border payments.

Despite the promising results, no definite timelines have been given for the full launch of the e-HKD CBDC, or even that such a launch will occur. In its October 30report, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority warned there are still issues to resolve:

“For instance, an rCBDC issued as a programmable money may be more susceptible to cybersecurity risks, as it may present more mediums for external threats to inject malicious code.”

With the silent nod from Beijing’s Central Government, Hong Kong has been striving to become a Web3 hub for blockchain in the Asia-Pacific Region. However, such efforts had been overshadowed by the collapse of the JPEX crypto exchange, resulting in losses exceeding $150 million for Hong Kong investors. Since the incident unfolded, trust in cryptocurrency among local residents has fallen drastically. 

Hashkey’s regulated exchange token 

Hashkey, one of the first crypto exchanges to receive a regulatory license in Hong Kong, will introduce an exchange token in 2024. 

According to therecentwhitepaper, the “HashKey EcoPoints” (HSK) token will be minted on Ethereum with a total supply of 1 billion. Out of this amount, 65% is reserved for users, 30% for Hashkey staff, and 5% for its ecosystem treasury.

The token will be distributed as incentivizes to ecosystem users and distributors and will not be “sold via private or public sales for fund raising purposes.” As for utility, the company states that the token could be used to settle trading fees, along with early access to future token subscriptions and product upgrades on its exchange services.

The exchange also pledges to buyback HSK tokens with up to 20% of profits generated from related Hashkey services. “HashKey implements an offsetting issuance mechanism (burning) to protect HSK holders from the dilutionary impact of rewards-based increases in HSK circulating supply,” the firm wrote. However, regulatory approval is still required for the token design plan:

“The contents of this whitepaper have not been reviewed by any regulatory authority in Singapore or Hong Kong. You are advised to exercise caution in relation to the information in this whitepaper and any transaction that you intend to carry out involving HSK.” 

In August, Hashkey, alongside crypto exchange OSL, received one of the first regulatory licenses for retail crypto trading in Hong Kong. Its trading volume initially stagnated but has sincegainedtraction. Only select coins and tokens, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, and Avalanche, are approved to be listed on the exchange.

$308M syndicate manipulated crypto markets to launder money: Police 

Nineteen Chinese nationals have been sentenced for their role in a $308 million money laundering scheme involving cryptocurrencies between November 2020 and April 2021. 

According to an October 31 report by the Chongqing Tongliang District People’s Court, Mr. Jiang and Mr. Deng, the principal conductors of the money laundering syndicate, together laundered a total of $308 million worth of Bitcoin and Tether for proceeds of crime related to online gambling and wire fraud.

Police say that to avoid platform monitoring and know-your-customer requirements, the accused individuals orchestrated a sophisticated scheme of using peer-to-peer transactions, where coins were sold at “unusual prices relative to spot markets” for stablecoin Tether and then transferred to exchanges for cash.

“By fabricating pretexts such as withdrawing project funds and migrant workers’ wages, they organized gang members to withdraw cash from bank counters in Chongqing, Sichuan, Shanghai and other provinces and cities. The amount of cash withdrawals ranged from hundreds of thousands to several million yuan each time. After withdrawing the cash, the cash is packaged in trolley cases, backpacks, etc., and transported by plane.”

The 19 individuals, including Mr. Jiang and Mr. Deng, were sentenced to six months to six years in prison. “In recent years, the phenomenon of criminals committing illegal and criminal activities through telecommunications networks has become increasingly rampant, posing a huge threat to the legitimate rights and interests of the general public,” the presiding judge wrote. 

Due to such a rise in wire fraud involving cryptocurrencies, China’s Central Government has cracked down harshly on crypto-related activities in the country, although there have been some signs of relaxation as of late. Nevertheless, such enforcement actions have sometimes resulted in collateral damage for foreign investors using Chinese-based crypto services without criminal intent. 

Subscribe

The most engaging reads in blockchain. Delivered once a week.

Email address

SUBSCRIBE

Asia Express: Cops bust Australian crypto and fiat money laundering exchange, Bitget now 4th largest exchange, China partially lifts NFT ban.

Our weekly roundup of news from East Asia curates the industrys most important developments.

Largest money laundering scandal in Australia unravels

Changjiang Currency Exchange, a money transmitter business based in Australia, has beenbustedin a $145 million ($230 million Aussie dollar) money laundering scandal.

On October 26 a 300-strong police operation spanning Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth arrested seven individuals four Chinese citizens and three Australian nationals, after a 14-month investigation.

Operating under the front of a legitimate currency exchange business, police say that Changjiang Currency Exchange allegedly helped launder dirty funds and tainted cryptocurrency from investment scams and unregistered crypto exchanges.

In one single incident, a 37-year-old Chinese national was accused of using Changjiang’s services to launder $63 million (A$100M) worth of funds received from a multinational Ponzi scheme.

The investigation began after law enforcement officials noticed irregular traffic at Changjiang kiosks across Australia during a time of strict COVID-19 related lockdowns. Police have since seized $13.27 million (A$21M) in cash and various luxury items believed to have been purchased using proceeds of crime. The investigation remains ongoing.

Bitget’s colorful Q3

Crypto derivatives exchange Bitget has risen to become the fourth-largest by volume, trailing behind only that of Binance, OKX, and ByBit. 

According to the October 20 report, Bitget claims that its market share has risen to 9.43%, compared to negligible volume just two years ago. During Q3 2023, the exchange says it onboarded over 9,000 traders along with 85,000 followers or copy-traders, who together achieved a net trading profit of $6.7 million. However, the combined industry trading activity fell by 23% year over year to $4.8 trillion in the quarter.

From July to September, Bitget’s user protection fund peaked at $368 million and now stands at $350 million. The exchange claims that it has no debt alongside a proof-of-reserves ratio exceeding 200%. In September, the firm launched a $100 million EmpowerX Fund dedicated to ecosystem development and hosted a namesake summit in Singapore. It also hired 60 staff in July for its Middle East expansion plans. 

China partially lifts bans on NFTs

After a year of harsh crackdowns on private blockchain enterprises, it appears that China has softened its stance somewhat. 

According to local news reports on October 25, Xianyu (literally ‘Bored Fish’), Chinese internet conglomerate Alibaba’s flagship peer-to-peer marketplace, has removed its censorship of “nonfungible tokens” related keywords in its search tool and relisted Topnod NFT collectibles minted on Alibaba’s Ant Blockchain.   

Due to regulatory uncertainty, Topnod digital collectibles were prohibited from listing on secondary markets. Last December, Cointelegraph reported the Chinese government’s official NFT trading platform was planned to launch this year. The exchange is still in development at the time of publication. Since 2021, China has officially banned almost all crypto-related activity saved for outright ownership of cryptocurrencies. 

Blockchain connects interprovincial health insurance in China

Residents of Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Anhui provinces can now submit and validate their health insurance claims using blockchain technology. 

In a partnership with Alibaba’s Ant Insurance, users in the aforementioned regions can submit their claims online, and after blockchain verification for authenticity, receive their reimbursement within hours. 

In one instance, an individual known as Mr. Wang submitted his claim for lung cancer treatment in Anhui, and received the full $17,800 (130,000 Chinese Yuan) reimbursement within two hours. Su Fang, Director of the Financial Insurance Institute of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, commented:

“This time, all electronic financial and medical bills in the Yangtze River Delta have been opened and applied on a large scale in commercial insurance claims, marking the true application of the digital Yangtze River Delta construction. This not only brings real convenience to the people, but also improves the efficiency of insurance claims and effectively prevents moral hazard.”

Ant Insurance has operated a blockchain-powered claims portal since 2019. For the past four years, the platform has processed over 2.25 billion medical claims and improved information sharing between insurance providers and medical professionals.

Huaian uses blockchain to improve surveillance 

The City of Huaian’s Jianpu People’s Court is using a combination of AI recognition, big data, and blockchain technology to improve law enforcement surveillance. 

Starting October 25, the Jianpu People’s Court will create an “all-purpose” system for monitoring visitors entering and leaving court premises. As soon as a visitor is identified to be trespassing in an unauthorized area, the system will alert court bailiffs for their immediate apprehension. Officials say that the system can drastically reduce the patrolling of hard-to-monitor areas: 

“Outside the court walls and in the public rest areas outside the courtroom of the main building, etc., intelligent behavior analysis technology can be used to capture and intelligently analyze the behavior of the parties, provide early warning of possible dangerous behaviors such as abnormal gatherings, strenuous exercise, fights, etc., and remind judicial police and other staff to pay attention and deal with it promptly and appropriately.”

Through the system, court bailiffs would gain access to all visitors’ movements and details within court premises. Augmented reality will also enhance hard-to-see areas for better resolution. 

Subscribe

The most engaging reads in blockchain. Delivered once a week.

Email address

SUBSCRIBE

Bitmain allegedly fires staff for speaking out against salary cuts, Hong Kong investors lose faith in crypto after the JPEX scandal, Bitget gets a new crypto credit card and more.

Our weekly roundup of news from East Asia curates the industrys most important developments.

Bitmain allegedly fired staff after salary complaints

Bitcoin application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) mining manufacturer Bitmain has allegedly fired three of its employees for speaking to the media regarding the withholding of salary payments by their employer. 

According to local news reports on Oct. 17, citing an alleged internal Bitmain memo, the company accused three staff members of breaching various clauses in their employment contracts for sharing their remuneration on social media platforms. The note reads: 

The EMT [Executive Management Team] has decided: (1) Employee Li of product operations and circuit development, is to be fired immediately and blacklisted. (2) Employee Xie of product operations and circuit development, is to be fired immediately and blacklisted. (3) Employee Ding, administrative intern at strategic development PMT, is to be fired immediately and blacklisted. The interns post-secondary institution shall also be informed of the incident.

In addition, the company reserves the right to pursue legal action against the individuals above, Bitmain allegedly wrote. Without authorization by the company, nothing can be said, nothing can be given [to outsiders!]

On Oct. 9, Cointelegraph reported that Bitmain allegedly paused September salary payments for its staff members as the company has yet to achieve a net positive cash flow, especially in the orders of [new] ASICs. In addition, employees allegedly face a 50% cut to their base salary, with all bonuses and incentives being removed. 

Founded in Beijing, China in 2013, Bitmain is one of the worlds largest Bitcoin mining ASIC manufacturers, with an estimated 70% market share during the previous bull market that ended in 2021. The firms Antminer ASIC series currently leads the industry in terms of hash rate computations for mining Bitcoin. Over the past year, several Bitcoin mining operators have gone bankrupt as the price of Bitcoin plunged while electricity costs surged. 

Hong Kong investors spooked by JPEX scandal 

Despite efforts to regulate the sector, it appears that some Hong Kong residents have lost their confidence in crypto after the largest Ponzi scheme in the citys history, the $175 million JPEX crypto exchange scandal, unfolded last month. 

According to a new study published by the HKUST Business School Central on Oct. 17, 41% of Hong Kong residents are no longer interested in holding crypto assets, a sharp rise of 12% compared to before the JPEX incident. The survey featured 7,900 respondents and was conducted between April and October. 

The study also revealed that 84% of Hong Kongers have heard of crypto, with 27% of respondents claiming they either hold digital assets now or were previously crypto investors. For those investing in crypto, over 80% said they would not invest over 50,000 Hong Kong dollars ($6,390) into the sector. Interestingly, 57% of respondents said they understood that crypto exchanges must obtain a license before operating in Hong Kong, an increase of 15% compared to before the JPEX scandal unraveled. 

Wu Huang, a professor at HKUST Business School Central, commented: 

We hope that the results of this survey can provide industry stakeholders with more perspectives to help build a sound virtual asset industry. As virtual assets play an increasingly important role in the digital economy, there is a need to strengthen education efforts to make the public better Understand the risks and potential of this emerging field.

Last month, JPEX staff fled their corporate booth at Singapores Token2049 event after the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission issued a warning regarding the exchanges unregulated activities. Subsequently, Hong Kong police arrested more than 10 corporate executives and influencers connected to the exchange on charges of fraud. The JPEX scandal has since grown to over 2,300 victims, with losses estimated at $175 million. The exchange was unlicensed at the time of the incident. 

Factually inaccurate news report wipes out $54 million in market cap

When it comes to reporting, Cointelegraph has seen some blunders over the years. That said, fake news is a problem across the industry. 

On Oct. 16, Bloomberg reported that BC Technology Group, owner of licensed Hong Kong crypto exchange OSL, is contemplating the sale of the latter for 1 billion Hong Kong dollars ($128 million).

On Oct. 17, BC Technology Group issued a clarification stating: The Board wishes to clarify that the contents and statements in the [Bloomberg] Article are factually inaccurate and highly misleading and that it was not contemplating a sale of OSL. 

Unfortunately, investors who bought BC Technology stock based on the divestiture euphoria were not so happy. After publishing the clarification statement, shares of BC Technology tanked 22% during the trading day, wiping off $54 million in market capitalization. Shareholders of the Company and potential investors are advised to exercise caution when dealing in the shares of the Company, management wrote. 

Bitgets new crypto credit card

Joining the likes of its peers, cryptocurrency exchange Bitget is launching its own crypto-fiat credit card. According to an Oct. 16 announcement during the Future Blockchain Summit in Dubai, the Bitget Card, issued by Visa and backed by digital assets in users accounts and wallets, will be denominated in U.S. dollars and will be accepted in over 180 countries. 

Although many exchanges have rolled out their own crypto debit or credit cards, some have seen pushback from payment processors. On Aug. 25, Mastercard said it would end its cryptocurrency card partnership with Binance in Latin America. Although the firm did not cite a specific reason, experts have pointed to Binances recent regulatory scrutiny as the underlying cause. 

Subscribe

The most engaging reads in blockchain. Delivered once a week.

Email address

SUBSCRIBE

3AC co-founder Su Zhu was arrested in Singapore, leaving several disgraced blockchain executives’ entrepreneurial ventures in disarray.

Our weekly roundup of news from East Asia curates the industrys most important developments.

3AC creditors strike back 

On Sept. 29, Su Zhu, co-founder of defunct Singaporean hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) which prior to its collapse last June managed more than $10 billion in digital assets was apprehended at Singapores Changi International Airport while attempting to flee the country following the issuance of a committal order. 

Just days prior to his arrest, Singaporean courts issued an arrest warrant for Zhu after his deliberate failure to comply with a court order obtained which, in essence, compelled him to cooperate with the liquidators investigations and account for his activities as one of the founders of 3AC and its former investment manager. Zhu, a Singaporean national, was sentenced to four months in prison for the breach. 

Teneo, the appointed liquidator for 3AC, said in an email statement that creditors would seek to engage with him on matters relating to 3AC, focusing on the recovery of assets that are either the property of 3AC or that have been acquired using 3ACs funds during his time in prison.

The liquidators will pursue all opportunities to ensure Mr. Zhu complies in full with the court order made against him for provision of information and documents relating to 3AC and its former investment manager during the course of his imprisonment and thereafter, Teneo wrote. 

The filing revealed that Kyle Livingston Davies, 3ACs co-founder and a naturalized Singaporean citizen, was also sentenced to four months imprisonment for contempt of court. However, his current whereabouts remain unknown. Cointelegraph previously reported that Davies had fled to Dubai earlier this year and opened a restaurant there. 

Recently, the Monetary Authority of Singapore barred both Zhu and Davies from conducting enterprise investment activity in the city-state for nine years due to regulatory violations, such as exceeding 3ACs statutory assets under management limit. 

In July 2022, 3AC filed for bankruptcy after a series of failed leveraged trades on the Terra ecosystem left the hedge fund emptied of assets and left creditors with over $3.5 billion in claims. The event caused a chain reaction that led to the bankruptcy of 3ACs counterparties, such as Celsius, Voyager and FTX. Prior to the counterattack, 3AC creditors had suffered a humiliating setback where over one year of bankruptcy proceedings were halted by a U.S. judge due to a clerical error. 

At one point in the last year, Davies publicly boasted that there were no pending lawsuits or regulatory action against him. After the collapse of 3AC, both Zhu and Davies embarked on alternative entrepreneurial ventures. Aside from Davies restaurant, Zhus $36 million luxury Yarwood Homestead in Singapore, purchased just months before 3ACs collapse, had been converted into an eco-farm. Local media writes: 

Based on the principles of ecological design and agroecology, the company transformed the garden into a farmland, an ecosystem that includes agriculture and aquaculture, producing local vegetables, herbs, fruits, fish, chickens and ducks.

The farm is owned by Su Zhus wife, Evelyn Tan, through her company Abundunt Cities. Yarwood Homestead is open to curious gardeners, citizen scientists, and the community on an invitation-only basis. We also run a private dining experience to help us test recipes for native edibles through our Native Edibles R&D Kitchen, an excerpt from its website reads. 

A second wave

When it rains, it pours. 

In January, Zhu and Davies novel exchange OPNX a platform based in Hong Kong for trading bankruptcy claims on fallen crypto companies such as 3AC and FTX was spearheaded into development after soliciting $25 million from various investors. The platform launched in April with just $13.64 in trading volume on its debut. By June, the firm claimed it had reached nearly $50 million in daily trading volume. 

However, holders of OPNX did not appear to have enjoyed news of Zhus arrest and Davies indictment. On the day of the announcement, the Open Exchange Token fell nearly 60% in a single day to $0.01. The token has lost 79% of its value in the past month and has a fully diluted market capitalization of just $77 million, compared with over $300 million in June. 

In July, OPNX announced that it had onboarded tokenized claims of FTX and Celsius. Per design, claims would be converted into collateral in the form of OPNXs native reborn OX (reOX) tokens or oUSD, its credit currency. Users could then trade crypto futures using reOX as collateral.

However, the firms claims dashboard remains dysfunctional at the time of publication. Leslie Lamb, OPNXs CEO, had tried to distance the firm from Davies and Zhu, claiming that they are no longer involved in [its] operations. In August, all three executives were fined the equivalent of $2.7 million by Dubais Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority for running OPNX as an unlicensed exchange in the Emirate. 

Prior to Zhus arrest, 3AC Ventures, a venture capital fund created by the duo in June, appeared to be doing quite well. Its investments have since expanded to a project called Gamerlan since its initial investment in Raise. 3AC Ventures is focused on superior risk-adjusted returns without leverage, its creators proclaimed. 

Regardless, creditors have made it clear that their priority is in recovering the assets of 3AC and maximising returns for its creditors, which could also include former 3AC assets that are used to create new entities. Teneo has since recovered several nonfungible tokens owned by 3AC and auctioned them via Sothebys, netting a total of $13.4 million. The proceedings are still ongoing.

Subscribe

The most engaging reads in blockchain. Delivered once a week.

Email address

SUBSCRIBE

Crypto industry concerns after Chinese dev fined 3 year’s salary for using a VPN, largest Ponzi in Hong Kong history, JPEX saga, and more.

Our weekly roundup of news from East Asia curates the industrys most important developments.

Chinese worker fined $145K over VPN

An unnamed individual in China was fined 1.06 million Yuan ($144,907) for using a virtual private network (VPN) to access restricted websites as part of a remote work routine for a foreign employer. 

According to local mediareportsearlier this week, during his employment as a consultant between 2019 to 2022 the unnamed individual accessed GitHub to view source code, answered questions in customer support, held teleconferences via Zoom, and posted multiple threads on Twitter with the help of a VPN.

Based on a document issued by City of Chengde Police, the individual’s income earned with the aid of a VPN was deemed as “proceeds of crime.” The police issued a penalty of $144,097, equivalent to three years of the individual’s salary.

Chinese law prohibits the use of VPNs to bypass the country’s “Great Firewall” that blocks popular sites such as Google, Wikipedia, and Facebook. The ruling has spooked many in China’s IT and Web3 circles, who often rely on VPNs for similar remote-work tasks.

City of Hangzhou airdrops 10M e-CNY 

The City of Hangzhou is airdropping 10 million digital yuan central bank digital currency (e-CNY), worth a total of $1.37 million, to incentivize food and beverage spending as it hosts the 19th Asian Games. 

Anyone within the municipality of Hangzhou, locals and visitors alike, can receive the e-CNY airdrop for use in food delivery platforms. Individuals can receive up to three vouchers that reimburse merchants, in e-CNY, up to 20% to 30% of the value of food items after purchase.

The airdrop will renew every five days until the balance is emptied. The vouchers, although denominated in e-CNY, are only effective for five days and can only be tendered through select food delivery platforms. Earlier this year, the City of Hangzhou airdropped 4 million e-CNY, worth $590,000, in an effort to boost the CBDC’s adoption.

15 detained over largest alleged Ponzi scheme in Hong Kong’s history

Hong Kong police have detained 15 individuals linked to the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange JPEX. 

As of September 27, Hong Kong Policeclaimthey have received over 2,392 complaints claiming a total loss of 1.5 billion Hong Kong dollars ($191.6 million) in the apparent Ponzi scheme. Since the investigation began mid-September, police say that they have seized 8 million HKD ($1 million) in cash and frozen bank accounts worth 77 million HKD ($10 million) suspected of being proceeds of crime.

On September 13, the Hong Kong Securities & Futures Commission (SFC) issued a warning regarding JPEX being an unlicensed exchange within its jurisdiction. The move led to several arrests of its key executives and the abandonment of its corporate booth in Token2049 Singapore. Prior to its collapse, JPEX was one of the most heavily marketed crypto exchanges in Hong Kong, with corporate ads displayed across the city’s metro lines and taxis.

The incident is shaping up as potentially the worst Ponzi scheme in Hong Kong’s history in terms of monetary loss. Shortly after its discovery, the SFC began publishing a list of crypto exchanges awaiting registration or are unlicensed within the special administrative region of China.

CoinEx resilient despite $70M hack

Hong Kong crypto exchange CoinEx will resume services despite falling victim to a $70 million wallet hack orchestrated by North Korea’s infamous Lazarus Group. 

According to a September 22 statement, CoinEx claims to have resumed deposits and withdrawals on 190 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, USD Coin, and Tether. The firm stated: 

“The wallet system is operating safely and steadily at present. We will gradually resume deposit and withdrawal services for the remaining 500+ cryptos. Since the resuming operations will be processed frequently, there will be no further or separate announcements for each crypto.”

As part of its new wallet system, CoinEx updated the deposit addresses of all crypto assets, rendering old addresses invalid. On September 12, a leak of the exchange’s hot wallet keys led to the theft of over $70 million worth of users’ cryptos. Despite the incident, CoinEx said that cold wallets were not affected and that the CoinEx User Asset Security Foundation would “bear the financial losses from this incident.”

Multiple blockchain security firms, such as Elliptic, have pointed to North Korea’s Lazarus Group as the perpetrator of the exploit. The CoinEx team has since offered a “generous bounty” for the return of stolen funds. Prior to the hack, the exchange disclosed it had around $260 million worth of major cryptocurrencies in its proof-of-reserves report. 

Alibaba moves into digital wallets

Chinese tech conglomerate Alibaba wants to launch its own wallet service. 

According to the September 28 announcement, Alibaba’s Cloud subsidiary has partnered with crypto custodian Cobo to create an enterprise wallet-as-a-service solution for developers and organizations, integrating crypto wallets into software through APIs and SDKs. Cobo says it is incorporating its custodial wallet and multi-party computation technology to build the Alibaba Cloud wallet. 

“This collaboration marks a significant step towards setting new standards in security, performance, and accessibility of the digital wallet infrastructure for Web3,” said Dr. Changhao Jiang, co-founder and CTO of Cobo. The firm claims to hold partnerships with over 500 institutions, with billions of digital assets in custody through its wallet solutions. In June, crypto-friendly executive Joe Tsaibecame the chairmanof Alibaba Group, replacing his predecessor Daniel Zhang.

Subscribe

The most engaging reads in blockchain. Delivered once a week.

Email address

SUBSCRIBE

The 3AC saga continues, Token 2049 kicks off in Singapore and CoffeeDAO gives mom-and-pop cafes a leg up on Starbucks.

Our weekly roundup of news from East Asia curates the industrys most important developments.

Token 2049, one of the largest crypto conferences of the year, attracted a record 10,000 attendees, 300 speakers and 5,000 companies during the two-day event in Singapore.

From Sept. 1314, attendees entering the majestic Marina Bay Sands Convention Expo and Center were greeted by the energetic beats from the Polyhedra DJ, then to a hall of booths showcasing the latest innovation in the blockchain industry. Aside from the main show, over 400 side events took place this year.

Among the biggest announcements during the event, KXVC, a subsidiary of Kasikornbank, the largest bank in Thailand with 20 million customers, launched a $100 million fund dedicated to Web3, AI and deep tech firms based in Southeast Asia. KXVC wrote:

“For Web3, KXVC targets Web3 infrastructures, nodes validators, RPC providers, middlewares, modularity technologies, privacy, ZKP, wallets, alternative L1/L2s, shared securities, LsdFi and consumerization of NFTs.”

As for AI, the firm said it would prioritize investing in “consumer-focused AI, cybersecurity, AI/ML tools (e.g., deployment platforms, data annotation, model optimization), and problem-specific AI startups.”

The fund will be led by Krating Poonpol group chairman of Kasikorn Business Technology Group, and Jom Vimolnoht, managing director of KXVC. According to KXVC, Poonpol has over 100 investments, four unicorns, and 10 exits across five funds as a venture capitalist. Meanwhile, Vimolnoht has managed $400 million in startup investments and has backed 35 startups in the region.

On Sept. 15, Ethereum layer-two scaling solution Mantle Network,launcheda $200 million development fund for ecosystem acceleration. Among the first recipients are LiquidX, an application layer-focused venture studio building Web3 companies; Valent, a decentralized money market exploring liquid staking derivatives finance (LSDFi); and Range Protocol, an all-in-one on-chain asset management platform and ecosystem.

Previously known as BitDAO, the Mantle Network has been a maverick in reinvigorating blockchain communities, with the launch of a $500 million blockchain gaming fund in November 2021.

In May 2023, BitDAO (BIT) passed a “One brand, One token” unity governance proposal rebranding the network to Mantle with 235 million BIT tokens voting yes and 988 BIT voting no.

CoffeeDAO tokenizes marketing potential of cafes

A new decentralized autonomous organization, dubbed CoffeeDAO, is partnering with cafes around the world to unravel their market potential in exchange for free coffee.

In a live demonstration at Chye Seng Huat Hardware coffee store in Singapore, Cheney Cheng, co-founder of CoffeeDAO, showed Cointelegraph how to receive up to four free coffees at the store with a simple scan of a bar code, yielding four COFFEE tokens minted on Polygon, which could then be directly exchanged for coffee. Not only do customers receive airdrop tokens per visit, but the “loyalty points” can then be spent at other cafes.

According to Cheney, the concept is all about the neighborhood, which would allow community-based mom-and-pop stores to compete with the likes of Starbucks and McDonald’s. Customers aside, a referral program exists where individuals can receive up to 200 COFFEE tokens (200 cups of espresso) for onboarding cafes to the program. So far, over 15 cafes have partnered with CoffeeDAO throughout Singapore and Hong Kong.

Huobi Global changes name to… HTX? 

Cryptocurrency exchange Huobi Global is changing its name to a word where “H” represents the first letter of Huobi, “T” represents Justin Sun’s blockchain project Tron, and “X” represents the exchange’s 10th anniversary; the new name also happens to be eerily similar to the now bankrupt crypto exchange FTX.

According to the Sept. 13announcement, the rebranding coincides with the exchange’s goals in its new era to further “global expansion, thriving ecosystem, wealth effect and security and compliance.”

Justin Sun, de facto owner of HTX, said during a Token2049 press conference that the new name is also designed for non-Chinese users of the exchange, citing the difficulty of pronouncing “Huobi” for foreigners.

HTX has been in turmoil since the beginning of the year, shortly after Sun acquired the exchange and reportedly crushed an employee revolt. Despite touting stellar revenue and profit figures, Edward Chen, managing director of HTX Ventures, revealed that the exchange had cut its staff count down to 900 from 2,500 at the beginning of the year. Last month, the exchange denied it was close to insolvency and that Chinese police had arrested its senior executives. 

Justice’s late arrival for 3AC

It seems that some mild justice has finally arrived for Zhu Su and Kyle Davies, both co-founders of Singaporean crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC), who blew up the $3.5 billion firm in 2022 and then embarked on a game of catch-me-if-you-can with creditors.

In a September 14 statement, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) reprimanded both Zhu and Davies, barring the two from enterprise activities in the city-state’s regulated capital markets for nine years. As told by the MAS, the misconduct includes:

“(i) Providing false information to MAS [on 3AC]; (ii) failing to notify MAS about changes to Mr Zhu’s and Mr Davies’ directorship and shareholdings; and (iii) exceeding the assets under management threshold allowed for a registered fund management company.”

More than a year later, 3AC’s bankruptcy is still ongoing, and no criminal complaints have been filed against either Davies or Zhu in any jurisdiction. Last month, an embarrassing mistake that assumed Davies was a U.S. instead of a Singaporean citizen invalidated Davies’ court service in U.S. bankruptcy courts, which have cost over $30 million to date. Both Davies and Zhu have now been served in Singaporean courts.

Subscribe

The most engaging reads in blockchain. Delivered once a week.

Email address

SUBSCRIBE

Tencent builds the largest AI LLM model ever, South Korean authorities bust $83M crypto scam.

Our weekly roundup of news from East Asia curates the industrys most important developments.

$500B firm partners with Polygon 

South Korea’s Mirae Asset Security Token Working Group, with over $500 billion in assets under management (AUM), is collaborating with Ethereum layer-two scaling solution Polygon (MATIC) for security tokenization initiatives. 

According to a Sept. 7 press release, Mirae Asset Securities has signed a memorandum of understanding with Polygon Labs for “helping domestic and international tokenized securities networks.”

“Mirae’s foray into tokenization will undoubtedly help accelerate the mass adoption of web3 among other financial institutions,” commented Polygon Labs’ executive chairman Sandeep Nailwal.

Meanwhile, Ahn In-sung, head of the digital division at Mirae Asset Securities, wrote: “Through technical collaboration with Polygon Labs, Mirae Asset Securities aims to establish global leadership in the field of tokenized securities.”

Previously, Polygon Labs partnered with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and key financial institutions in its Project Garden asset tokenization initiative. Last November, Project Guardian executed foreign exchange and sovereign bond transactions via Polygon.

Tencent launches the largest LLM model ever 

Tencent’s new Hunyuan Large Language Model (LLM) has over 2 trillion parameters. Previously, the largest LLMs have contained upwards of 175 billion training data parameters.

During the Chinese IT conglomerate’s Global Digital Ecology Conference on Sept. 7, Tencent unveiled its Hunyuan AI competitor to ChatGPT which is now available through Tencent Cloud. Users are able to directly connect their software APIs to Hunyuan, or use it as a basis for a variety of applications in mechatronics, customer service and enterprise operations.

Tencent claims that Hunyuan is capable of processing “tens of trillions” of data per day and can reduce risk analysis procedures in automobile manufacturing from four hours to less than 30 minutes. The company has invested a combined $31.4 billion into cloud and AI research and development within the past five years. The firm wrote: 

In response to the problem that large models are prone to babbling nonsense, Tencent has optimized the pre-training algorithm and strategy, reducing the illusion of the mixed-element large model by 30% to 50% compared with mainstream open source large models.

Coinbase introduces stricter KYC measures for Singaporean customers

Singaporean clients of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase must now provide know-your-customer information (KYC) when sending crypto to addresses other than Coinbase. 

In accordance with MAS regulations, Coinbase’s Singaporean customers will need to provide info on recipients’ wallet type, counterparty exchange name, full name and country of residence when sending crypto off the exchange. In addition, users who receive external crypto on Coinbase will need to provide similar KYC information on the sender in order to access their deposits.

The new KYC checks will not affect transfers between Coinbase accounts. MAS’ anti-money laundering requirements for digital asset transactions took effect in January 2020 and were last revised in March 2022. It’s not immediately clear as to why the exchange only implemented the regulations just now. 

Shangdong Province’s Metaverse KPIs

Government officials in China’s Shangdong Province have set key performance indicators (KPIs) for local bureaucrats to expand the province’s metaverse industry to 15 billion Yuan ($2.05 billion) by 2025, or for a cyclically adjusted growth rate of 15% per annum. In addition, the KPIs include the incubation of 100 metaverse ecosystem projects, 3,000 metaverse-related patents, and at least 30 metaverse experiences at public service centers. The Shangdong People’s Government wrote: 

“[It is necessary to] build a Shandong cultural dedicated network, Shandong cultural big data center and cultural database to form a cultural tourism metaverse big data system. Focus on cultural tourism resources such as A-level tourist attractions, cultural centers, libraries, and museums, and develop a number of immersive tourism service products such as VR [Virtual Reality] cloud tours.”

80 Chinese crypto influencer accounts banned

Sina Weibo, one of China’s largest social media platforms with over 580 million monthly active users, has banned 80 Chinese crypto influencer accounts with a combined follower count of over 8 million. 

According to a Sept. 5 announcement, the accounts were banned due to “promotion of crypto trading activities” in accordance with eight legislations that together form China’s “Crypto Ban,” which has been in force since August 2021. One user commented:

“Even more [crypto] groups have been removed. A large part of those who were with me six years ago have now removed as well. Those who have not been removed have also been greatly restricted. Please go and promote them on Twitter. Weibo is no longer a good environment.

Though the Crypto Ban has been in effect for some time, China has only taken a harsh stance on enforcement starting this year. It has resulted in the removal of criminal enterprises, legitimate projects, and caused collateral damages to foreign investors alike.  

$83M crypto scam group busted in South Korea

South Korean police have busted a 110 billion Won ($83 million) crypto scam. 

Authorities say that on Sept. 5, 22 individuals were arrested on charges of deception and fraud. The unnamed group, accused of orchestrating a Ponzi scheme, allegedly solicited $83 million from 6,610 individuals based on promises of investment returns in the crypto markets as high as 300%.

An investigation subsequently revealed that business entities created by the group advocating token listings and entry into digital asset exchanges were falsified. Local news reported that assets linked to the unnamed group have been seized in criminal proceedings. A police official wrote: 

“We will strictly respond to various financial crimes that infringe upon the people’s livelihood by exploiting the desperate psychology of ordinary people who want to improve economic conditions and the virtual asset investment craze.”

OKX in final stages of licensing in Hong Kong 

According to local news reports on Sept. 3, cryptocurrency exchange OKX is in the advanced stages of receiving its virtual asset provider license from Hong Kong regulators. Zhikai Lai, the firm’s CCO, said that he expects OKX to receive the regulatory license by June 2024 and hopes to attract anywhere between 100,000 to 200,000 retail Hong Kong crypto investors within the first year. The executive noted:

“Banks have held a conservative attitude towards the virtual currency industry for many years. It was not until the government promoted Hong Kong as a global virtual asset center last year, and the Securities and Future Commission and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority gave a clear message that banks were required to prepare resources to focus on the industry. After that, their attitude became positive.”

Subscribe

The most engaging reads in blockchain. Delivered once a week.

Email address

SUBSCRIBE

Thailand to give every citizen 10,000 Baht in crypto, Delio users unlikely to recover all funds, Vietnam is world’s No.1 country for crypto.

Our weekly roundup of news from East Asia curates the industrys most important developments.

Thailand’s crypto UBI

Thailand may soon have a national airdrop in the works where every citizen 16 years and older will receive 10,000 Baht ($285). 

According to local news reports on August 30, Thailand’s ruling Pheu Thai party will consult the Bank of Thailand in developing a “utility type 1” token necessary for the airdrop. The solution will be a know-your-customer (KYC), blockchain-based infrastructure that sources say will take at least six months to roll out. A 100 Baht fee will also be charged per user for the KYC process. In addition, the solution will require the approval of the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission. 

Real estate developer and crypto investor Srettha Thavisin was elected on August 22 as the incumbent prime minister of Thailand. During campaigning, Thavisin promised the exact 10,000 Baht per person basic income stimulus via “digital currency” if elected into power. In 2021, Thavisin’s firm, Sansiri, purchased a 15% stake in Thai asset tokenization provider X Spring for 1.6 billion Baht ($45.7 million). 

The Thailand Development and Research Institute said funding for the Thavisin Airdrop will come from tax collection in the 2024 fiscal year. The total budget estimate for the project is 560 billion Baht ($16 billion). 

The airdrop will not be equivalent to fiat Baht funds, however. Users reportedly can only spend the digitized tokens within four kilometers of their residence. The tokens will only be valid for a period of six months and cannot be converted into cash, nor be used to settle debts. Thavisin’s government is expected to assume office by the end of September.

Delio users’ assets slashed in half 

More bad news is coming for users of troubled South Korean Bitcoin lender Delio. 

According to local news reports on August 30, the South Korean crypto lending giant, which holds over $1.2 billion in Bitcoin and Ether, is expecting a recovery rate of just 50% to 70% on its assets. On June 14, Delio suspended deposits and withdrawals after disclosing significant counterparty exposure to fellow South Korean Bitcoin lender Haru Invest. 

On June 13, Haru Invest, too, suspended deposits and withdrawals after allegations of fraudulent activities arose surrounding its operator, B&S Holdings. Haru Invest is currently in bankruptcy proceedings. Likewise, Delio is currently under investigation by the country’s regulatory authorities for allegations of fraud, embezzlement, and breach of trust. The platform previously announced that it would resumes withdrawals, although no updates on such timeline has since been given.

Vietnam’s booming crypto market 

Vietnam is currently ranked first in the world in crypto adoption, with up to 19% of its 18-64 adult population using digital assets.

That’s according to an August 30 report authored by Vietnamese venture capital firms Kyros Ventures and Coin 68, together with Animoca Brands. Currently, the Southeast Asian country is the home to around 200 blockchain projects, and is expected to generate $109.4 million in revenue from crypto exchanges this year. The country’s crypto users are estimated to grow to 12.37 million by 2027. 

Among the highlights, 76% of Vietnamese crypto users say that they invest in digital assets based on advice from friends, a number 2.5 times higher than individuals surveyed in the U.S. Nearly 70% of respondents said the crypto bear market would last less than one year or has already ended. Almost half of respondents say that centralized exchanges offer just as much utility as decentralized ones, but 90% of crypto owners use decnetralized exchanges.

Binance Japan to list 100 coins

On August 30, Tsuyoshi Chino, CEO of Binance Japan, held an online business briefing discussing the exchange’s domestic expansion strategy. During the session, Chino said that Binance Japan would seek to list 100 coins and tokens “as soon as possible.” 

Local news reports note that Binance Japan currently provides spot trading of cryptocurrencies alongside staking “Simple Earn” programs. The use of margin trading is currently not available unless the exchange obtains a regulatory license. The presentation also revealed that its parent exchange, Binance, has surpassed 150 million in user count with an average daily trading volume of $65 billion. Earlier this year, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase ceased operations in Japan, citing difficult market conditions.

Shenzhen’s 15 million Yuan for airdrops

In a government-sponsored conference promoting the digital Chinese Yuan central bank digital currency (e-CNY CBDC), officials from the City of Shenzhen pledged 15 million ($2.1 million) for municipal e-CNY airdrops over the next three years. Binqquan Wei, vice governor of Agricultural Bank of China Shenzhen, noted that during trials, the e-CNY has proven to be a highly efficient method for consumer transaction receipts via its immutable distributed ledger technology: 

“The platform [Our e-CNY CBDC] currently has more than 200 merchants, involving 11 key industries such as education and training, catering, pet services, elderly care, and sports.”

China’s central government has been heavily promoting the e-CNY CBDC as a means of stimulating the country’s ailing economy amid a looming recession. In its latest figures, the CBDC has surpassed $123 billion in cumulative transactions since 2021, with test sites running in 17 provinces and 26 districts. 

Subscribe

The most engaging reads in blockchain. Delivered once a week.

Email address

SUBSCRIBE

Retail crypto trading is only days away in Hong Kong, but a mainland crackdown sees bounties offered for crypto firms and miners imprisoned.

Our weekly roundup of news from East Asia curates the industrys most important developments.

HashKey Hong Kong to commence retail trading 

Crypto exchange HashKey, the first licensed virtual asset provider in Hong Kong, will open its doors to residents for retail trading on August 28. 

According to local news reports, investors will only be allowed to invest up to 30% of their net worth into cryptocurrencies when using the platform. A risk control warning will be displayed if the limit is exceeded. However, Xiaoqi Weng, COO of HashKey, mentioned that the exchange “cannot validate users’ net worth,” and the limit is largely based on “self-verification” of assets. 

Weng also disclosed that the exchange will assess users’ investment background based on information submitted during know-your-customer verification. “[Investment] Beginners are limited in what they can purchase,” said Weng. 

At its debut, users can only trade Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) on HashKey Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission has not yet allowed margin trading of crypto products, nor crypto derivatives, among regulated exchanges, Weng noted. 

Dark side of China’s crypto crackdown

It appears China no longer wants any private blockchain firms operating within its borders and is on the warpath to get rid of them, no matter the consequences. The move comes amidst an increase in using crypto as a means of capital flight in an economic downturn.

Local media reports suggest that, legitimate or not, blockchain projects in China have literal bounties on their heads. First, third-party tracking firms tip off the police on undercover crypto projects in the country; if the report leads to arrest and asset forfeiture, the tracking firm stands to make millions of dollars in commission, if not hundreds of millions of dollars, for large-scale projects such as Multichain.

Then, after arrest, crypto executives are reportedly intimidated into handing over the project’s private keys and access to servers. Police then allegedly get third-party payment processors to “dump” the coins and tokens over the counter in exchange for Chinese Yuan.

Crypto executives are then charged with operating a “multi-level marketing scheme,” “pyramid scheme,” or “money laundering.” If convicted, the charges result in the seizure of all protocol-related assets by the state.

Sources claim that a portion of the funds goes into law enforcement agency revenue. Zhengyao Liu, a senior lawyer at the Shanghai Mankuen Law Firm, wrote:

“In fact, in the past two years, the profit-seeking law enforcement in crypto-related criminal cases, especially in crypto-related MLM cases, has been the main reason people do not trust the case-handling agencies. For example, the ‘contribution’ of crypto-related criminal cases to financial fines and confiscation revenues is more than 50% higher than in previous years in the Jiangsu Province.”

The crackdown has led to the termination of several protocols this year, with little recourse for non-Chinese users with funds stuck on these platforms. Unsurprisingly, it has sparked a wave of emigration among Chinese Web3 founders, and overseas law enforcement efforts to try and recover the “stuck” funds.

e-CNY green bonds debut 

Despite the draconian crackdown on private crypto activities, government-led blockchain efforts in China are doing quite well.

On August 18, the first digital yuan central bank digital currency (e-CNY CBDC) green bond was issued with a principal amount of 100 million Chinese Yuan ($14 million), a term of two years, and a coupon rate of 2.6% per annum. 

Facilitated by the Bank of Ningbo, the loans will be used to finance a 1.4 gigawatt (GW) and a 1.0 GW solar panel facility expansion project in Wuxi. 

The e-CNY CBDC has been repeatedly “shilled” for much of this year as a means of stimulating domestic spending amidst a financial crisis within the country. In the City of Tianjin alone, e-CNY transaction volumes have surpassed $17.5 billion in the first half of 2023, with over 302,000 merchants accepting the CBDC as a means of payment. 

FBI tracks $41M in North Korean crypto

On August 22, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation announced the identification of 1,580 BTC ($41 million) stolen from various projects by North Korean hackers. The six displayed wallets include funds stolen from the $60 million Alphapo hack in June, $37 million stolen from CoinsPaid in June, and $100 million stolen from Atomic Wallet in June. The FBI wrote: 

“Private sector entities should examine the blockchain data associated with these addresses and be vigilant in guarding against transactions directly with, or derived from, the addresses. The FBI will continue to expose and combat the DPRK’s use of illicit activitiesincluding cybercrime and virtual currency theftto generate revenue for the regime.”

The agency said it believes North Korea will attempt to cash out the stolen funds. Criminal investigations into North Korean hackers’ role in the Harmony’s Horizon Bridge and Sky Mavis’ Ronin Bridge exploits last year are still ongoing.

Chinese Bitcoin mining magnate sentenced to life in prison

Yi Xiao, a former vice chairman of the Jiangxi Provincial Political Consultative Conference Party Group, has reportedly been sentenced to life in prison by the Hangzhou Intermediate People’s Court for unrelated charges of corruption and abuse of power in a Bitcoin mining enterprise.

According to local news reports on August 22, Yi Xiao operated a 2.4 billion Chinese Yuan ($329 million) Bitcoin mining enterprise under the corporate name Jiumu Group Genesis Technology from 2017 to 2021. Despite knowing about a ban on cryptocurrencies, Xiao amassed over 160,000 Bitcoin miners with other corporate executives and, at one time, 10% of the City of Fuzhou’s entire electricity consumption. 

Xiao was convicted of using his public office to secure preferential subsidies, capital, and electricity supply for Jiamu Group. The former official also used his position to fabricate statistical reports to conceal the operations’ true nature.

Starting this year, China has been cracking down harshly on crypto activities amid a spree of data theft and money laundering incidences involving digital assets. Earlier this month, a Chinese national was sentenced to nine months in prison for purchasing $13,067 worth of Tether (USDT) for an acquaintance.

Subscribe

The most engaging reads in blockchain. Delivered once a week.

Email address

SUBSCRIBE