Asia Express – Cointelegraph Magazine

Visa completes e-HKD CBDC trial with HSBC and Hang Seng Bank

Hong Kong is one step closer to a central bank digital currency (CBDC) with the successful release of the first phase results of e-HKD in partnership with Visa, HSBC and Hang Seng Bank.

According to reports on November 1 announcementVisa said it achieved “near real-time” end results for transfers involving digital Hong Kong dollar (e-HKD) tokenized deposits.

“Tokenized deposits are burned on the sending bank’s ledger, minted on the receiving bank’s ledger, and simultaneously passed through a simulated wholesale CBDC layer for interbank settlement,” the payments company wrote.

“This will improve liquidity management by providing settlement in an atomic manner, better streamlining any operational dependencies imposed by financial institutions and other intermediaries.”

The payments processor also said its e-Hong Kong dollar test pilot can operate 24/7, exceeding the uptime of traditional financial systems, which typically fail to operate after hours or on weekends. Additionally, the company writes, “Tokenized deposits can be fully transacted while remaining cryptographic, without revealing information about identity, balance, or transaction amount to non-bank users.”

For next steps, Visa plans to explore the use of e-HKD in tokenized asset markets and programmable finance to automate real estate transactions. “In the pilot’s property payments use case, payments from buyers transferring remaining balance tokens to property developers may be automated on the contract completion date, minimizing process closure lag time,” the company said. Other areas of research interest include the expansion of retail solutions and digital cross-border payments.

Despite the encouraging results, no clear timeline has been given for the full rollout of an e-HKD CBDC, or even such a rollout.on October 30ReportThe Hong Kong Monetary Authority warned that there are still issues that need to be resolved:

“For example, rCBDC issued as a programmable currency may be more susceptible to cybersecurity risks because it may provide more vectors for external threats to inject malicious code.”

With the tacit approval of the central government in Beijing, Hong Kong has been committed to becoming the Web3 hub for blockchain in the Asia-Pacific region. However, these efforts were overshadowed by the collapse of the JPEX cryptocurrency exchange, which resulted in Hong Kong investors losing more than $150 million. Since the incident, local residents’ trust in cryptocurrencies has dropped significantly.

Hashkey’s regulated exchange token

Hashkey is one of the first cryptocurrency exchanges to obtain a Hong Kong regulatory license and will launch an exchange token in 2024.

according torecentThe white paper states that “HashKey EcoPoints” (HSK) tokens will be minted on Ethereum with a total supply of 1 billion. 65% of it is reserved for users, 30% is reserved for Hashkey employees, and 5% is reserved for the ecosystem treasury.

The token will be distributed as an incentive to ecosystem users and distributors, and will not be “funded through private or public sales.” As for utility, the company said the token can be used to settle trading fees, as well as gain early access to future token subscriptions and product upgrades for its trading service.

The exchange also promised to buy back HSK tokens with 20% of the profits generated by the related Hashkey service. “HashKey implements an offset issuance mechanism (burn) to protect HSK holders from the dilutive impact of reward-based increases in the circulating supply of HSK,” the company wrote. However, the token design still requires regulatory approval:

“The contents of this white paper have not been reviewed by any regulatory authority in Singapore or Hong Kong. You are advised to treat the information in this white paper and any transactions you intend to conduct involving HSK with caution.”

In August, Hashkey received one of Hong Kong’s first regulatory licenses for retail cryptocurrency trading, along with cryptocurrency exchange OSL.Its trading volume initially stagnated but has since growngetTraction. Only selected coins and tokens, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, and Avalanche, are approved for listing on the exchange.

Police: $308 million criminal syndicate manipulates crypto markets for money laundering

Nineteen Chinese nationals have been sentenced for their role in a $308 million money laundering scheme involving cryptocurrencies between November 2020 and April 2021.

According to reports on October 31 Report According to the Chongqing Tongliang District People’s Court, Mr. Jiang and Mr. Deng, the main perpetrators of the money laundering group, laundered Bitcoin and Tether worth US$308 million for criminal proceeds related to online gambling and telecommunications fraud.

Police said that in order to avoid platform surveillance and understand customer requests, the defendants orchestrated a complex scheme using peer-to-peer transactions, in which coins were sold for the stablecoin Tether at “unusual prices relative to the spot market” and then transferred to be redeemed for cash. .

“They made up excuses such as withdrawing project funds and migrant workers’ wages, and organized gang members to withdraw cash at bank counters in Chongqing, Sichuan, Shanghai and other provinces and cities. The amount of cash withdrawn each time ranged from hundreds of thousands to millions of yuan. After withdrawing cash, package the cash in trolley cases, backpacks, etc. and transport it via airplane.”

Jiang, Deng and 19 others were sentenced to six months to six years in prison. “In recent years, the phenomenon of criminals using telecommunications networks to carry out illegal and criminal activities has become increasingly rampant, posing a huge threat to the legitimate rights and interests of the general public,” the presiding judge wrote.

China’s central government has cracked down on domestic cryptocurrency-related activities amid rising wire fraud involving cryptocurrencies, although there have been some recent signs of easing. However, such enforcement actions sometimes cause collateral damage to foreign investors who use Chinese crypto services without criminal intent.

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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.