Crypto Recovers, Disasters Strike, China’s Crackdown Shifts To Other Sectors – Cointelegraph Magazine

[ad_1]

This weekly roundup of news from Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong attempts to present the most important news in the industry, including influential projects, changes in the regulatory landscape and enterprise blockchain integrations. .

It has been a tumultuous week in China outside of the financial world with severe flooding hitting Zhengzhou and Typhoon In-Fa hitting cities around Shanghai. Worse yet, a COVID-19 Delta variant outbreak in Nanjing now threatens to disrupt the relatively open lifestyle residents have enjoyed since strict anti-infective measures brought the initial outbreak under control in early 2020.

Shanghai city skyline (Pexels) Problems in paradise?

Inside the Chinese financial world, government regulations on technology and education companies have caused local stock markets to plummet, which may have played an indirect role in the sharp rebound in cryptocurrency prices. The reminder that regulators can suddenly crush an industry could hurt investor confidence in A-shares, bringing more money back to alternative investments like Bitcoin. In any case, there is a lot on the government’s plate, so cryptocurrency shouldn’t be a priority these days.

Sell ​​rumors in advance

Volumes certainly supported this trend as Huobi and OKEx recorded increases for the second week in a row. Despite rumors that further crackdowns may be underway on the trade, things have remained calm on a regulatory level. Platform tokens for OKEx and Huobi have recovered impressively. HT, which had fallen by around 80% since mid-May, suddenly rebounded by around 45%, leading investors to wonder if the worst of the regulatory action is behind them. At the very least, rumors are more and more mainstreamed at this point, which means there is less to fear from new announcements.

As one of the catalysts for the news, Huobi hinted at their upcoming PrimePool, which is expected to allow users to mine tokens from new projects using HT or other tokens. The Axie AXS token remained a popular asset to trade as it remained in the top five on Huobi for most of the week. NFT gaming has yet to really take off in China, although projects like Polygon are still actively pushing the metaverse trend in the region.

Wipe the slate

On July 27, Huobi announced that its China-based entity had been dissolved. As nearly all of the operations have taken place overseas, the move could be a step toward tangle with Chinese regulators. Huobi said that this is the entity registered in Beijing since 2013 and is not the current operating entity of Huobi Global. According to the same article, OKEx is also in the process of dissolving a previously used registered company.

With miners and stock exchanges now mostly overseas and out of Beijing’s control, future policies can only truly target retail and the use of cryptocurrencies. Bobby Lee, who founded one of the first Bitcoin exchanges in China, discussed the possibility of an outright ban, saying it could happen in 4 to 5 years. Lee is now the CEO of holding company Ballet and remains an active figure in the cryptocurrency space.

In search of greener pastures

Binances CZ revealed in an interview with SCB 10X that it is looking for a new CEO of Binance who it hopes will have “very solid regulatory experience”. CZ first announced his departure earlier this year when he said he hoped to step down as CEO within the next two to five years to fully focus on developing the BNB and Binance Smart ecosystem. Chain and now his “resignation” plans seem even more accelerated. .

Vitalik Buterin makes a virtual appearance at the World Blockchain Conference (Source: Ben Yorke) Happening in Hangzhou

This developing tech region of Hangzhou was the scene of the World Blockchain Conference on July 24 and 25. It is one of the most important events on the blockchain calendar and, focused on blockchain technology and technical development, has received support from the local government. organizations. The event has had a lot of hype before, due to digital opening speeches from speakers like Vitalik Buterin and Sam Bankman-Fried. However, the proximity of Typhoon In-Fa resulted in lower attendance and more moderate activities. Buterin laid out his future vision for Ethereum, painting an ambitious picture of the developments to come. A number of projects have hosted side events in Hangzhou, including the DeFi core portfolio ImToken and the Avalanche smart contract protocol.

Complete with CBDCs

Shenzhen residents can now use e-CNY on buses and subways, according to an article on People.cn. Citizens are encouraged to actively use the central bank’s digital currency in public transport for so-called “green” trips. Citizens scan the code into the local transport app and scan it when entering or exiting the vehicle or train station. At the same time, citizens can use the e_CNY to top up their local travel cards.

This news will not be greeted warmly by ASI President Rich Checkan, who suggested earlier this week that the CBDCs were concocted in hell by Satan himself. His strong words are likely addressed to countries like China, where the government plays an important role in both financial institutions and the tech sector.

[ad_2]