Asia Express – Cointelegraph Magazine

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

Australia’s largest money laundering scandal exposed

Yangtze Currency Exchange is an Australia-based currency transfer company.crackedInvolving a US$145 million (A$230 million) money laundering scandal.

On October 26, after a 14-month investigation, 300 police officers across Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth arrested 7 people, including 4 Chinese citizens and 3 Australian citizens. .

Yangtze Currency Exchange operated under the guise of a legitimate currency exchange business and allegedly helped launder money and tainted cryptocurrencies from investment scams and unregistered cryptocurrency exchanges, police said.

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

An investigation was launched after law enforcement officials noticed irregular traffic at Yangtze newsagents across Australia during the strict COVID-19 related lockdown. Police have since seized US$13.27 million (A$21 million) in cash and various luxury goods believed to have been purchased with the proceeds of crime. The investigation is ongoing.

Bitget Colorful Q3

Crypto derivatives exchange Bitget has rise It has become the fourth largest trading platform in terms of trading volume, second only to Binance, OKX and ByBit.

According to the Oct. 20 report, Bitget claimed that its market share had risen to 9.43%, up from a negligible share two years ago. The exchange said that in the third quarter of 2023, it attracted more than 9,000 traders and 85,000 followers, or copy traders, who collectively achieved a net trading profit of $6.7 million. However, overall industrial transaction activity fell 23% year-on-year in this quarter to US$4.8 trillion.

From July to September, Bitget’s user protection fund peaked at $368 million and currently stands at $350 million. The exchange claims to have no debt and a reserve ratio of over 200%. In September, the company launched a $100 million EmpowerX fund dedicated to ecosystem development and hosted a summit of the same name in Singapore. In July, the company also hired 60 people for its Middle East expansion plans.

China partially lifts ban on NFTs

After a year of crackdown on private blockchain companies, China appears to have softened Its stance is different.

According to local news reports on October 25, Xianyu (literally meaning “boring fish”), the flagship peer-to-peer marketplace of Chinese internet group Alibaba, has removed censorship of “non-fungible tokens” related keywords in its search tool and has Relisted Topnod NFT collectible minted on Alibaba’s Ant Blockchain.

Due to regulatory uncertainty, Topnod digital collectibles are prohibited from listing on the secondary market. In December, Cointelegraph reported that the Chinese government’s official NFT trading platform planned to launch this year. As of the time of this article’s publication, the exchange is still under development. Since 2021, China has officially banned almost all cryptocurrency-related activities except outright ownership of cryptocurrencies.

Blockchain connects China’s inter-provincial health insurance

Residents of Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui and other provinces can now submit and use blockchain technology to verify their health insurance claims.

Through cooperation with Alibaba Ant Insurance, users in the above areas can submit claims online and receive reimbursement within hours after the authenticity is verified on the blockchain.

In one example, a man named Mr. Wang submitted an application for lung cancer treatment in Anhui and received full reimbursement of US$17,800 (130,000 yuan) within two hours. Su Fang, director of the Institute of Finance and Insurance at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, said:

This time, electronic finance and medical billing in the Yangtze River Delta have all been launched and widely used in commercial insurance claims, marking the true implementation of the construction of the digital Yangtze River Delta. 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 been operating a blockchain-based claims portal since 2019. Over the past four years, the platform has processed more than 2.25 billion medical claims and improved information sharing between insurance providers and medical professionals.

Huaian uses blockchain to improve surveillance

Jianpu People’s Court of Huai’an City is use Combining artificial intelligence identification, big data and blockchain technology to improve law enforcement monitoring.

Starting from October 25, the Jianpu People’s Court will establish a “comprehensive” system to monitor visitors entering and exiting the court. If a visitor is detected trespassing in an unauthorized area, the system will alert court bailiffs and arrest them immediately. Officials say the system could significantly reduce patrols in difficult-to-monitor areas:

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

Through this system, court bailiffs can know the whereabouts and detailed information of all visitors in the court. Augmented reality will also enhance hard-to-see areas for better resolution.

subscription

The most fascinating read in blockchain. Delivery is weekly.

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.