China
Volvo’s parent company establishes blockchain joint venture headquarters in Wuxi, China
On Tuesday, privacy blockchain Concordium and Geely Holding, a Chinese multinational automotive car company that owns brands such as Volvo, announced the creation of a joint blockchain venture with headquarters in Wuxi, China. The project aims to develop blockchain technologies and improve blockchain standards, mainly in the automotive industry. Since establishing the joint venture last February, Geely Holding has created a Digital Technology Sector, or DTS, subsidiary to invest in cutting-edge technologies, including blockchain. Moreover, the two entities plan to offer businesses and customers access to new blockchain platform-based business models and decentralized applications. DTS has already developed blockchain services, such as a digital asset management platform and a blockchain tr...
US exceptionalism could be tested as digital assets find footing worldwide — Sheila Warren
Sheila Warren, CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation and former head of data, blockchain and digital assets at the World Economic Forum, said the digital yuan may present certain challenges for the United States. However, regulators and lawmakers may want consider how to encourage digital innovation, as China is already “massively tech forward” for its residents. Speaking to Cointelegraph during Austin’s SXSW festival, Warren said that though she believed China’s digital yuan was unlikely to significantly affect retail payments in the United States, the adoption of the technology surrounding it could impact the dollar’s global dominance. The CCI CEO added that the Federal Reserve could make a “strong move” in preserving the dollar’s role by introducing a central ...
Chinese internet giants remove NFT platforms fearing gov’t crackdown
China’s leading social media platforms and internet giants have updated their policy to restrict or remove nonfungible token (NFT) platforms, citing a lack of regulatory clarity and fearing government crackdown. Chinese social media giant WeChat reportedly removed several digital collectible platform accounts for violations of the rules. Digital collection platform Xihu No.1, one of the hyped NFT projects in the market, was among the removed platforms. Another platform called Dongyiyuandian revealed that its official app has been banned, reported a local daily. WhaleTalk, a digital collectible platform launched by tech giant Ant group, also updated its policy to increase the penalty for using an over-the-counter (OTC) desk for trading NFTs. It is important to note that even though NF...
Bitcoin rally hopes diminish as pro traders flip bearish, retail interest at 12-month lows
Bitcoin (BTC) has been trapped in a symmetrical triangle for 56 days and the trend change could last until early May, according to price technicals. Currently, the support level stands at $38,000, while the triangle resistance for daily close stands at $43,600. Bitcoin mining up, retail interest down Bitcoin/USD price at FTX. Source: TradingView The week started with a positive achievement for the Bitcoin network as the Lightning Network capacity reached a record-high 3,500 BTC. This solution allows extremely cheap and instant transactions on a secondary layer, known as off-chain processing. After cryptocurrency mining activities were banned in China in 2021, publicly-listed companies in the United States and Canada attracted most of this processing power. As a result, Bitcoin’s hash...
Web3 will be key to the future of China’s internet, says security regulator
The director of the Science and Technology Supervision Bureau of China’s Securities Regulatory Commission Yao Qian has called for a special focus on Web3, deeming it to be the future of the internet. Yao published an article titled “Web 3.0: A New Generation of Internet that is Approaching,” talking about the significance of the evolving tech and how the world is at a crucial transition from Web2 to Web3. The article talked about the significance of forward-looking research and strategic infrastructure development. Yao predicted that Web3 will reconstruct the organizational form and business model of the Internet economy and is expected to greatly improve the existing Internet ecosystem, Related: Republican lawmakers introduce bill targeting China’s CBDC on...
Bitcoin’s got 3 strikes, but investors remain calm despite price drop
After Bitcoin (BTC) faced its third consecutive rejection, investors became more confident in adding altcoin positions. For the leading cryptocurrency, the path to $50,000 appears more challenging than previously expected. According to Euronews Next, on March 14, the European Union rejected a proposed rule that could have banned the energy-intensive proof-of-work (PoW) mining algorithm used by Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Several EU parliamentarians have been pushing to ban PoW mining over energy concerns. BTC/USD price at FTX. Source: TradingView In terms of performance, the aggregate market capitalization of all cryptos was relatively flat over the past seven days, registering a modest 0.4% gain to $1.77 trillion. However, the apparent lack of performance in the overall market doe...
China’s share in Bitcoin transactions declined 80% post crackdown: PBoC
People’s Bank of China, the central bank of the country, claimed in a recent note that China’s share in the global Bitcoin (BTC) transactions has rapidly dropped from over 90% to 10%. The Financial Stability Bureau of the Chinese central bank released a comprehensive note on Wednesday discussing the impact of the crypto crackdown on the financial markets. The official notice claimed that all peer-to-peer exchanges in the country had been eradicated, which eventually curbed the hype around digital currency transactions. A Google translated version of the note read: “The global proportion of Bitcoin transactions in China dropped rapidly from more than 90% to 10%. Severely cracked down on illegal financial activities such as disorderly handling of finance and crackdown on illegal fund-r...
Bitcoin network’s carbon emission jumped 17% after China ban: Report
Bitcoin network’s proof-of-work mining consensus has been a topic of environmental, social and governance debates for a long time, and a new study may only add to the growing controversy around Bitcoin’s carbon footprint. A new research report titled “Revisiting Bitcoin’s carbon footprint” published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Joules has highlighted that the Chinese crypto mining ban might not have contributed to the reduction in the carbon footprint of the Bitcoin network as propagated by many Bitcoiners; on the contrary, it has increased by 17%. China was the primary hub for Bitcoin miners before May 2021 and accounted for more than 60% of the total Bitcoin network hash rate. However, the blanket ban imposed by the government led to the migration of most of the mining fa...
China’s Supreme Court rules public funding via crypto as illegal
The People’s Bank of China previously outlawed crypto trading across the country The new judicial interpretation from the Supreme Court has spelt out punishment for those that transact in cryptocurrencies China’s initial ban of cryptocurrency activities in September led to a global market-wide crash. The authorities, at the time, cited threat to financial stability as well as breeding of criminal activities like money laundering, gambling, and fraud as the reason for the take. However, the decision did not come with penalties or judicial prosecution for those that went against it. That is set to change from 1st March following a Thursday ruling from the country’s Supreme Court that has amended its Criminal Law in regards to raising public money through virtual assets. The...
NEO price climbs after China’s BSN gives the project the green light on NFT marketplaces
As the field of viable layer-1 blockchain protocols continues to expand, with newer entrants trying to solve the issue of high transaction costs and slow processing times, older projects find themselves utilizing their history and track record to set themselves apart and secure a market share that will ensure their survival through the next market cycle. Neo (NEO) fits the bill described above, and the project is attempting to stage a revival in 2022 as governments around the world slowly open to the fact that blockchains and digital currencies have certain benefits and capabilities that can be integrated into public and private enterprise. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the price of NEO has climbed 60%, since hitting a low of $16.10 on Jan. 24, to hit...
Here’s how much digital yuan used at Olympics, according to PBoC
The 2022 Winter Olympics participants, visitors and organizers could be spending more than $300,000 in China’s digital yuan every day, according to new reports citing officials from the People’s Bank of China. The e-CNY, China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), is being used to make 2 million yuan ($316,000) or more worth of payments each day, PBoC’s Digital Currency Research Institute director-general Mu Changchun said. The official provided the data during a webinar hosted by the Atlantic Council, Reuters reported Tuesday. “I have a rough idea that there are several, or a couple of million digital yuan of payments every day, but I don’t have exact numbers yet,” Mu said, adding that there was no breakdown yet of the number of transactions made by Chinese nationals and foreign a...
China Censored Friends so Ross’ Wife Isn’t Gay and There’s No Such Thing as Sex
Call it “The One Where Nothing Happens.” The first season of Friends recently appeared China’s most popular streaming platforms, but with key moments altered to remove references to sex and LGBTQ people. It’s the latest casualty of China’s “national rejuvenation,” in which the Communist Party requires that all media shown in the country “vigorously promote excellent Chinese traditional culture, revolutionary culture, and advanced socialist culture.” According to The New York Times, this has led to changes that range from abrupt to bizarre. Ross still begins the series newly single, but it’s no longer because his wife has just come out as a lesbian and left him for another woman. There’s a sudden cut during the scene where Ross explains what happened to his par...
