Our weekly roundup of East Asian news highlights the most important developments in the industry.
HashKey Hong Kong Starts Retail Trading
Hong Kong’s first licensed virtual asset provider cryptocurrency exchange HashKey will open retail trading to residents on August 28.
According to local news reports Report, investors can only invest a maximum of 30% of their net worth in cryptocurrencies while using the platform. If the limit is exceeded, a risk control warning is displayed. However, Weng Xiaoqi, chief operating officer of HashKey, said that the exchange “can’t verify the net assets of users”, and the limitation is largely based on the “self-verification” of assets.
Weng also revealed that the exchange will evaluate users’ investment backgrounds based on the information submitted during Know Your Customer verification. “(Investment) beginners are limited in what they can buy,” Ong said.
At launch, users could only trade Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) on HashKey Hong Kong. Weng noted that Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission has yet to allow margin trading of crypto products or crypto derivatives between regulated exchanges.
The dark side of China’s cryptocurrency crackdown
China no longer appears to want any private blockchain companies operating within its borders, and will get rid of them regardless of the consequences. The move comes amid the growing use of cryptocurrencies as a means of capital flight during the economic downturn.
local media Report shows that whether legal or not, blockchain projects in China are receiving a literal bounty. First, third-party tracking companies report secret crypto projects in the country to the police; if the reports lead to arrests and asset seizures, the tracking companies will earn millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars in commissions for large projects like Multichain.
After Reportedly Arrested Cryptocurrency Executive intimidated Hand over the project’s private key and access to the server. Police then allegedly had third-party payment processors “dump” coins and tokens over the counter in exchange for Chinese yuan.
The cryptocurrency executive was then accused of running a “multi-level marketing scheme,” a “pyramid scheme,” or “money laundering.” If convicted, the charges would result in the state seizing all assets related to the agreement.
Some of the funds were used for law enforcement revenue, the sources said. Liu Zhengyao, a senior lawyer at Shanghai Mankun Law Firm, wrote:
In fact, in the past two years, the profit-seeking law enforcement behavior in cryptocurrency-related criminal cases, especially in cryptocurrency-related MLM cases, has been the main reason for people’s distrust of case-handling agencies. For example, the “contribution” of criminal cases involving cryptocurrencies in Jiangsu province to fines and confiscated revenues was more than 50 percent higher than in previous years. “
The crackdown this year has resulted in the termination of multiple agreements, leaving non-Chinese users with little recourse for funds stranded on the platforms. Not surprisingly, it sparked a wave of emigration from Chinese Web3 founders, as well as efforts by law enforcement overseas to recover “trapped” funds.
E-renminbi green bond debuts
Despite a crackdown on private cryptocurrency activity, government-led blockchain efforts are progressing fairly well in China.
On August 18, the first digital RMB central bank digital currency (e-CNY CBDC) green bond was issued release The principal amount is RMB 100 million ($14 million), with a term of two years and a coupon rate of 2.6% per annum.
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Facilitated by the Bank of Ningbo, the loans will be used to finance 1.4 gigawatt (GW) and 1.0 GW solar panel facility expansion projects in Wuxi.
An e-yuan CBDC has been repeatedly “marketed” for most of this year as a means of stimulating domestic spending amid a domestic financial crisis.in Tianjin aloneIn the first half of 2023, the transaction volume of electronic RMB has exceeded 17.5 billion US dollars, and more than 302,000 merchants accept CBDC as a means of payment.
FBI tracks North Korean cryptocurrency worth $41 million
On August 22, the FBI Announce North Korean hackers have identified 1,580 bitcoin ($41 million) stolen from multiple projects. The six wallets shown include $60 million stolen from the Alphapo hack in June, $37 million stolen from CoinsPaid in June, and $100 million stolen from Atomic Wallet in June. The FBI wrote:
“Private sector entities should examine blockchain data associated with these addresses and remain vigilant against conducting transactions directly with or deriving from these addresses. The FBI will continue to expose and combat North Korea’s use of cybercrime and virtual currency theft illicit activities that generate revenue for the regime.”
The agency said it believed North Korea would attempt to cash out the stolen funds. A criminal investigation into North Korean hackers’ role in the attacks on Harmony’s Horizon Bridge and Sky Mavis’ Ronin Bridge last year is still ongoing.
Chinese Bitcoin Mining Giant Sentenced to Life in Prison
According to reports, Yi Xiao, the former vice chairman of the Jiangxi Provincial Political Consultative Conference Party Committee, was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Hangzhou Intermediate People’s Court for unrelated charges of corruption and abuse of power in a bitcoin mining company.
According to local news reports Report On Aug. 22, Xiao Yi ran a 2.4 billion yuan ($329 million) bitcoin mining venture under the company name Jomoo Chuangshi Technology from 2017 to 2021. Despite knowing about the cryptocurrency ban, Xiao and other business executives assembled more than 160,000 bitcoin miners who at one point accounted for 10 percent of Fuzhou’s entire electricity consumption.
Xiao was convicted of using his position to obtain preferential subsidies, funds, and power supply for Jiamu Group. The former official also used his position to fabricate statistical reports to obscure the true nature of the operation.
Beginning this year, China has been cracking down on cryptocurrency activity amid a spate of data theft and money laundering incidents involving digital assets. Earlier this month, a Chinese national was sentenced to nine months in prison for the purchase of $13,067 worth of Tether (USDT) by an acquaintance.
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