Asia Express – Cointelegraph Magazine

Our weekly roundup of East Asia news features a selection of the most important developments in the industry.

Bitmain allegedly fired employees after salary complaints

A Bitcoin Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) mining manufacturer has allegedly fired three employees after they spoke to the media about their employer withholding wages.

according to On October 17, local news reports cited an alleged internal memo from Bitmain accusing three employees of violating multiple terms of their employment contracts by sharing their salaries on social media platforms. The note reads:

“EMT (Executive Management Team) decided: (1) Li, the product operation and circuit development staff, was immediately fired and put on the blacklist. (2) Xie, the product operation and circuit development staff, was immediately fired and put on the blacklist . (3) Strategic Development PMT administrative intern Ding was immediately fired and blacklisted. The higher education institution where the intern worked should also be informed of the incident.”

“Furthermore, the company reserves the right to take legal action against the above individuals,” Bitmain allegedly wrote. “Nothing can be said and nothing can be said (to outsiders!) without the company’s authorization.”

On October 9, Cointelegraph reported that Bitmain allegedly suspended employee salary payments for September because the company “has not yet achieved net positive cash flow, particularly on (new) ASIC orders.” In addition, it is said that employees will face a 50% cut in their base salary and all bonuses and incentives will be cancelled.

Founded in 2013 in Beijing, China, Bitmain is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of Bitcoin mining ASICs, with an estimated market share of 70% during the last bull market that ended in 2021. The company’s Antminer ASIC series currently leads the industry in terms of computing power and the rate at which Bitcoin is mined. Several Bitcoin miners have gone bankrupt over the past year as Bitcoin prices plummeted and electricity bills soared.

Hong Kong investors shocked by JPEX scandal

Despite efforts to regulate the industry, some Hong Kong residents appear to have lost faith in cryptocurrencies following last month’s scandal at the $175 million JPEX cryptocurrency exchange, the largest Ponzi scheme in Hong Kong history.

according to A new study released by the HKUST Business School Center on October 17 showed that 41% of Hong Kong residents are no longer interested in holding crypto assets, a significant increase of 12% from before the JPEX incident. The survey was conducted from April to October and involved 7,900 respondents.

The study also revealed that 84% of Hong Kong people have heard of cryptocurrencies, with 27% of respondents claiming that they currently hold digital assets or were previous cryptocurrency investors. For those investing in cryptocurrencies, more than 80% said they would not invest more than HK$50,000 (US$6,390) in the industry. Interestingly, 57% of respondents said they understood that cryptocurrency exchanges must obtain a license to operate in Hong Kong, which is a 15% increase from before the JPEX scandal came to light.

Professor Wu Huang, Central Professor of HKUST Business School, commented:

“We hope that the results of this survey can provide more perspectives for industry stakeholders and help build a healthy virtual asset industry. As virtual assets play an increasingly important role in the digital economy, education needs to be strengthened to educate the public Better understand the risks and potential of this emerging field.”

Last month, JPEX employees fled the company’s booth at the Token2049 event in Singapore after Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission issued a warning about the exchange’s unregulated activities. Subsequently, Hong Kong police arrested more than 10 business executives and influencers related to the exchange on fraud charges. The JPEX scandal has claimed more than 2,300 victims and caused losses estimated at $175 million. The exchange was not licensed at the time of the incident.

‘Factually inaccurate’ news report wiped out $54 million in market value

In terms of reporting, Cointelegraph has made some mistakes over the years. That said, fake news is an industry-wide problem.

October 16, Bloomberg report BC Technology Group, the owner of Hong Kong-licensed cryptocurrency exchange OSL, is considering selling the latter for HK$1 billion ($128 million).

On October 17, BC Technology Group released clarify Statement: “The board wishes to clarify that the content and statements in the (Bloomberg) article are factually inaccurate and highly misleading” and that the board does not intend to sell OSL.

Unfortunately, investors who bought BC Technology stock because of the divestment were less happy. After issuing the clarification statement, BC Technology’s stock price fell 22% on the trading day, and its market value evaporated by US$54 million. “The Company’s shareholders and potential investors are advised to exercise caution when trading the Company’s shares,” management wrote.

Bitget’s new crypto credit card

Like its peers, cryptocurrency exchange Bitget has launched its own crypto-fiat credit card. according to The Bitget card, issued by Visa and backed by digital assets in user accounts and wallets, will be denominated in U.S. dollars and will be available in more than 180 countries, according to an announcement made during the Future Blockchain Summit in Dubai on October 16. /area accepted.

While many exchanges have launched their own crypto financial cards or credit cards, some have faced pushback from payment processors. On August 25, Mastercard said it would terminate its cryptocurrency card partnership with Binance in Latin America. While the company didn’t give a specific reason, experts pointed to Binance’s recent regulatory scrutiny as the root cause.

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Zhiyuan Sun

Sun Zhiyuan is a reporter at Cointelegraph, focusing on technology-related news. He has many years of experience writing for major financial media including The Motley Fool, Nasdaq.com and Seeking Alpha.