Chinese investors flock to the ‘Crypto Wild West’

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Decentralized finance takes off in China after Beijing banned investing in cryptocurrency.

China’s campaign against cryptocurrencies led authorities to shut down bitcoin mining operations in May. This coincided with the rise of decentralized finance or DeFi, which allows users to trade with each other without any intermediary, such as a bank or broker, and makes it more difficult to block.

While the toughest enforcement against cryptocurrencies took place in September, China first banned crypto exchanges in 2017, and Chinese users have gradually moved to DeFi. According to Chainalysis, a research firm, China’s share of global bitcoin transactions peaked at 15% in November 2019 and had fallen to 5% by June 2021.

In the 12 months leading up to June, mainland China was associated with $ 256 billion in cryptocurrency activity – the highest in Asia – and 49% of the total was traded through DeFi platforms. Uniswap, one of the major DeFi exchanges, is now the second largest exchange in East Asia in terms of trading volume, Chainalysis said.

As the latest restrictions deter new blood from entering the crypto markets, experts say some existing cryptocurrency holders are looking to DeFi in order to continue trading. DeFi protocols do not have the same “know your customer” obligations as more tightly regulated conventional exchanges.

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Chainalysis found that countries with historically large institutional investors armed with large crypto wallets – including the United States, China, Vietnam, and the United Kingdom – played an outsized role in DeFi. Large owners of crypto assets are drawn to DeFi because it allows them to earn income from their coins. Users lend their crypto to DeFi protocols to provide liquidity pools for peer-to-peer lending. In return, investors receive a portion of the transaction fees or token rewards.

But industry insiders warn that stricter regulation on DeFi is likely to come to the United States, which could introduce KYC obligations that would make it more difficult for Chinese users to register new accounts.

Read the full story here.

The Internet of (five) things

1. Clean Up the Frat Boy Culture of Gaming Activision Blizzard, the $ 60 billion gaming giant behind Call of Duty and Candy Crush, has laid off 20 employees in an attempt to clean up its culture over allegations of discrimination and widespread gender-based harassment. In a letter sent to staff on Tuesday, the company said it had also reprimanded 20 people and would expand its ethics and compliance team, which is tasked with creating a “more responsible workplace.” In August, hundreds of Activision Blizzard employees protested after management dismissed a lawsuit brought by the state of California, describing a “pervasive ‘frat boy’ work culture” as “irresponsible” and “inaccurate”.

2. Facebook Goes For A Third-Party Coin For Its Digital Currency Wallet Facebook launched a long-awaited pilot of its Novi digital currency wallet in the United States and Guatemala, but chose to use the Paxos Dollar stablecoin after its own crypto -Mint Diem has failed to gain support from regulators. Users will be able to download the app on iPhone or Android, register with government-issued ID, and transfer money between wallets for free. Coinbase, the US cryptocurrency exchange, provides custody services to Novi.

3. The Squid Game for Subscribers The booming success of Squid Game has helped Netflix double the number of new subscribers from the previous year, beating expectations and signaling a stronger year-end with the release of a flood of new movies and TV shows. The South Korean hit drama, released in September, was the biggest series launch ever for the video streaming service, reaching more than 142 million viewers worldwide. Netflix forecast it will add 8.5 million subscribers in the fourth quarter of this year, above the 8.33 million expected by Wall Street, and reach 18.4 million new viewers for the year. Most new subscribers grew outside the United States, with the Asia Pacific region contributing 2.2 million new net paying subscribers.

4. Jack Ma’s Vacation in Spain Alibaba founder Jack Ma is on vacation in Spain, marking the Chinese internet mogul’s first confirmed trip out of China since clashing with financial regulators of the country at the end of last year. Ma has only made a handful of low-key appearances in China since the initial public offering of Ant Group, its online funding platform, was blocked by President Xi Jinping in November, shortly after the mogul publicly criticized Chinese financial regulators in a speech.

5. WeWork Goes Public WeWork will finally debut on the stock exchange following the approval of a $ 9 billion merger by the shareholders of a blank check company, putting an end to the group’s tumultuous two-year journey real estate to go public. Shareholders of BowX Acquisition, a publicly traded acquisition company, or Spac, voted on Tuesday in favor of its deal with WeWork, allowing the shared office space provider to trade on the New York Stock Exchange starting Thursday. under the WE ticker. WeWork becomes a public company with a much more humble profile than when it first attempted in 2019, and its $ 9 billion valuation is a fraction of the $ 47 billion that SoftBank valued the company in over months of investment. before its failed IPO.

Technical tools Pixel 6 and 6 Pro smartphones received positive reviews © Bloomberg

The Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro smartphones launched yesterday received positive reviews. The handsets will run on Google’s custom Tensor chip, moving away from Qualcomm’s SoS (system on a chip) found in most Android handsets. Tensor enables new phone features like speech recognition and translation, powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning.

The Guardian writes that the phone “aims to beat the competition in terms of camera and performance while slashing it in terms of price.” Reviewers liked the range of matte color finishes and the high-end cameras. The company says its cameras improve on existing photographic technology by capturing various skin tones, correcting the bias toward lighter skin. Built-in AI tools also allow users to erase unwanted objects from photos and fix blurry faces. The phones come with wireless charging and an in-screen fingerprint reader, features that are usually only found on more expensive handsets.

The Pixel 6 will retail for £ 599 / $ 599, which is at least £ 170 cheaper than the new iPhone 13 and Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, while the Pixel Pro will sell for £ 849 / $ 899.

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