This weekly roundup of stories from Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong makes an attempt to curate the trade’s most necessary information, together with influential initiatives, modifications within the regulatory panorama, and enterprise blockchain integrations.
Victory for the regulators
After a tumultuous summer season of crackdowns, the Chinese language regulators are declaring their victory in eliminating unlawful cryptocurrency buying and selling actions within the nation. This revelation got here within the outlook part of the “China Financial Stability Report 2021” launched by the Individuals’s Financial institution of China on September 3.
Within the part titled Main Achievements within the Battle to Forestall and Defuse Main Monetary Dangers, it emphasizes that regulatory work in web asset administration, equity-based crowdfunding, web insurance coverage, digital forex buying and selling, on-line international alternate buying and selling, and different areas has been mainly accomplished.
Whereas this would possibly sound like an enormous adverse for the trade, most initiatives and firms in China at the moment are respiration a sigh of reduction. The top of the crackdown implies that firms can have a bit extra respiration room to function with out concern of authorized motion.
China’s public blockchain trade, or what’s left of it, will now not should exist within the shadows. There’s additionally hope that upcoming editions of Shanghai Man’s columns will function extra dialogue about growth and innovation, and fewer about crackdowns.
A lot of the injury from regulators impacted the mining area, though exchanges and brokers are undoubtedly shifting away from China long-term. Gamers like ByBit and Amber have already introduced they don’t settle for Chinese language customers, which may be a pattern going ahead if the dangers of doing enterprise in China don’t steadiness out with the rewards. Greater gamers like Binance and FTX could have a lot greater selections to make, however in the meanwhile, aren’t shying away from onboarding and servicing Chinese language customers.
From Sichuan to San Antonio
After winding down operations in China, many giant mining firms started looking for greener pastures abroad. Since Texas governor Greg Abbot tweeted that Texas would develop into a crypto chief, many cryptocurrency mining firms have moved to the Lone Star state in the hunt for regulatory stability.
It is taking place!
Texas would be the crypto chief.
Cryptocurrency is now coming to Texas grocery shops.
H-E-B is placing cryptocurrency kiosks into some Texas grocery shops.#cryptocurrency @HEB https://t.co/e4CNsSbd0s by way of @chron
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) June 19, 2021
Bitmain, the biggest mining producer on this planet, has a facility in Rockdale, Texas. Rockdale is a city with lower than 6,000 folks, a far cry from the 21 million those that populate its house in Beijing. By the way, Bitmain can also be deploying $62 million value of {hardware} into the state of Georgia.
Shenzhen-based BIT Mining is pumping in $26 million to construct a knowledge middle in Texas as effectively. It joins BlockCap, Riot Blockchain, and different mining firms already within the space. All these companies will likely be buoyed by the information that state legislators have signed Texas House Bills 4474 and 1576, legalizing cryptocurrencies underneath business legal guidelines.
Texas is now the fourth US state to acknowledge the standing of digital belongings, giving buyers and firms readability that’s sorely missing in China. Simply this summer season alone, totally different regulatory our bodies inside China have flip-flopped on the authorized standing of cryptocurrencies. That is inflicting a weakening perception within the sustainability of the Chinese language market and may push much more firms overseas.
One nation, two regulators
An government for Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Fee believes the latest variety of fraud circumstances factors to a necessity for stricter regulation. The particular administrative area has a a lot looser coverage in the direction of digital belongings, permitting exchanges like FTX, Bitfinex, and different Fintech firms to arrange store.
Hong Kong has at all times been seen as a bridge between companies and the strong Chinese language market, though lately, that dynamic is beginning to reverse. With tighter guidelines and better uncertainty in Hong Kong, Singapore is having fun with much more progress within the cryptocurrency area, with various high-profile trade gamers taking over residency there.
Non-fungible tendencies
The general pattern of NFTs hasn’t been misplaced on the Chinese language market. OKExChain launched its OKExNFT marketplace on September 2, becoming a member of the likes of Binance and FTX who’ve already launched related platforms.
Whereas not possessed with probably the most inventive naming group, it does home various Loot-lookalike NFTs referred to as Root, geared toward grabbing the NFT and GameFi market. China’s gaming and buying and selling markets, up to now, have been very energetic, making this a logical transfer. Whether or not OKExChain can match the success of different alternate sidechains stays to be seen.
Steph Curry’s choice to affix FTX as an envoy obtained blended opinions as some identified that the NBA star, recognized in China for his playful persona, had matured right into a grasp of enterprise.
