Chinese President Pushes for CBDC
On July 4, China’s state broadcaster Xinhua News Agency published a report Transcript Speech by President Xi Jinping at the Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is one of the largest regional organizations for political, economic and security cooperation in the world, established in 2001 by China and Russia.
In his speech, President Xi Jinping welcomed Iran as a full member of the organization and expressed appreciation for Belarus’ participation. He also spoke about the importance of a central bank digital currency (CBDC):
“China proposes to expand the share of local currency settlements in the SCO countries, expand sovereign digital currency cooperation, and promote the establishment of the SCO Development Bank.”
In January, the PBOC reported that the number of digital yuan (e-CNY) CBDCs in circulation was 13.61 billion, or about 0.13% of the money supply. Since then, the CBDC’s use has expanded to include the country’s Belt and Road Initiative, various consumer airdrops, and a means of payment for everyday transportation. However, experts warn that despite ongoing promotions, the currency is struggling to gain traction.
On July 10, the local news media “Oriental Fortune” report SIM cards associated with the e-RMB CBDC will soon be available to Chinese consumers. Since the e-RMB CBDC digital wallet is embedded in the SIM card itself, individuals will be able to pay for phone bills through point-of-sale machines even if the phone is out of battery.
Hong Kong cryptocurrency licensing costs soar to HK$100 million
According to a report on July 5 Report The combined cost of labor, materials and technology required to obtain a Hong Kong cryptocurrency exchange license has soared to HK$100 million ($12.77 million) since its establishment on June 1, Tencent News reported.
However, industry insiders point out that even with the infrastructure in place, license applications could still be rejected, or business opportunities disappear once licenses are approved. Tencent News wrote:
“The team that left Hong Kong last month settled in Malaysia. They can rent a large-floor workspace in the local city center for 60,000 yuan ($8,296) a month, and there are very cheap IT technicians there. These immigration teams believe that compared to Hong Kong, doing encryption projects in Southeast Asia has more advantages.
All cryptocurrency exchanges in Hong Kong have until the middle of next year to obtain a regulatory license or cease operations in the administrative region. Since the announcement, exchanges such as Huobi, OKX, BitgetX, Hashkey Pro, and Gate.io have all applied for licenses in Hong Kong.
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Chinese cross-chain protocol hacked again
On July 7th, the developer of China’s cross-chain bridging protocol Multichain shared A worrying message, stating: “The multi-chain service is currently stopped, and all bridge transactions will be stuck on the source chain. There is no confirmed recovery time yet. Please do not use the multi-chain bridge service at this time.” On the same day, Blockchain Security firm PeckShield warn Over $126 million has been drained from Multichain.
Circle immediately froze $63 million in USDC (USDC) of the allegedly stolen funds, while Tether (USDT) froze $2.5 million in USDT. Changpeng Zhao, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, said the hack did not affect its users because the company had withdrawn all funds not long ago.
Appears to be a malicious actor violation private keys to the protocol, and subsequently transferred protocol assets elsewhere, although the funds were not transferred again until July 10 move, a wallet address named “Fake_Phishing183873” received a staggering $10.2 million in USDT and 67.76 wrapped bitcoins (wBTC) from a multi-chain address. Immediately after the hack, the price of Multichain tokens dropped 20% from their highs and is currently trading at $2.62 per token.
Due to another private key breach, Multichain was hacked in July 2021 for $7.9 million. Interestingly, Multichain CEO Zhao Jun has been missing for almost two months since rumors of his arrest by Chinese police spread in May. Around the same time, users reported unusually long transaction times for on-chain transactions following a recent backend node upgrade. The total value locked in the agreement is currently $1.26 billion.
Singapore tightens controls on cryptocurrency activities
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will Require The digital payment token (DPT) provider will place clients’ assets in a legal trust by the end of the year. Additionally, DPT will be prohibited from providing cryptocurrency lending and staking services to retail investors. MAS wrote:
“These measures follow a public consultation in October 2022 on regulatory measures to enhance investor protection and market integrity for DPT services. The consultation received significant interest and broad support from a broad range of respondents.”
Institutional and accredited investors will still be allowed to offer cryptocurrency lending and staking services. Despite the new rules, the MAS warned that “while segregation and custody requirements will minimize the risk of loss of client assets, consumers could still face significant delays in recovering assets should service providers become insolvent.” The regulator said. Public feedback on the proposed rule change is being sought until August 3rd.
Thai Cryptocurrency Exchange Raises $17.1 Million
According to a recent archiveThai cryptocurrency exchange Bitkub has sold its 9.22 percent stake to Thai conglomerate Asphere Innovations PLC for 600 million baht ($17.1 million). At the time of the transaction, Bitkub held 31.9 billion baht ($910 million) in assets and customer deposits, and 31.4 billion baht ($890 million) in liabilities, it was revealed. The company’s total gross profit for the first quarter of 2023 was 314.87 million baht ($8.97 million).
Bitkub is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in Thailand with a market share of close to 90% in 2021. Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank previously signed an agreement to acquire a 51% stake in the company for 17.85 billion baht ($510 million) that year. However, the bank canceled the deal in August 2022. From December 31, 2021 to December 31, 2022, Bitkub’s total assets have decreased by 64%.
Japanese Video Game Group Enters Blockchain Gaming
On July 10th, Korean non-fungible token company Line Next disclose It signed a memorandum of understanding with Japanese video game giant Sega to remake one of Sega’s classic games on its Web3 gaming platform, Game Dosi.
Launched in May, Game Dosi currently has six games, including its self-developed game Project GD. Through the platform, players can buy and sell NFT heroes and challenge other players.
Founded in 1960, Sega is one of Japan’s largest video game groups, with nearly $2 billion in annual video game sales.Its most iconic franchises are Sonic the Hedgehogwhich is also the company’s mascot.
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