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This weekly roundup of news from Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong attempts to present the most important news in the industry, including influential projects, changes in the regulatory landscape and blockchain integrations of business.
It has now been two months since the crackdown on crypto and its subsequent application began. Most of the new stories now are just the trickle down of earlier national policies applied at the provincial level. The latest example comes from the Anhui provincial government, which announced a package of measures to reduce energy consumption, with cryptocurrency mining among the culprits. Anhui is a small province east of Shanghai, known more for its scenic rural landscape and agriculture than for its contributions to China’s economic development. It is likely that other provinces, especially those that rely on coal for energy, will have similar announcements over the summer as the central government pushes for a carbon-neutral future.
On July 13, Chinese mining pool giant Bit Mining announced that it had raised $ 50 million for expansion outside of China. The company is listed on Nasdaq and operates BTC.com, which is currently in the top 5 for Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin pools. It’s another sign that Chinese mining companies aren’t giving up in light of domestic restrictions, choosing instead to relocate data centers and mining machinery overseas.
The dying industry has left a trail of impressive photographs, some of which were published by financial media Caixin. An image that caught social media attention showed a woman who appeared to be from an ethnic minority holding a bundle of mining equipment and power cables like a bouquet of flowers.
Want some gold?
Former Bitmain CEO Jihan Wu believes mining regulations will benefit the industry in the long run, citing a better public image and the eradication of bad actors. It’s certainly a good idea, but at the moment China seems more determined to eliminate all the players, not just the bad ones.
With the next Winter Olympics in February 2022 looming, Beijing will have the perfect opportunity to show off clear blue skies and clean energy industries. On top of that, China can present its state-of-the-art central bank digital currency, without the confusion resulting from more speculative digital assets that might appear to have surface similarities. Those with first-hand memories of the 2008 Summer Olympics can also remember the strict regulations against technology and social unrest before this historic event.
Lowest volumes in years
The impact is felt on the main exchanges in China. Huobi’s BTC / USDT pair saw only 109K BTC traded in the past week, with the lowest weekly volume dating back to October 2018. Global trading was also affected by the drop in volumes, but not in the as these exchanges are mainly Chinese. In the current regulatory climate, there is no doubt that proactive exchanges in the decentralization of operations and risks are best placed to minimize the damage caused by adverse policies.
Working together for compliance?
On July 13, the Nanjing Public Security Research Institute announced that it was working with OKLink to fight money laundering. OKLink is a blockchain technology company that has ties to OK Group, a company that ran the leading exchange OKex. With stock market leadership under close scrutiny in 2021, it’s no surprise to see attempts to appease regulators.
Abandon ship
On July 15, cryptocurrency media company Bishijie announced it was shutting down after breaking national laws against cryptocurrency. Bishije, which translates to Coin World, had seen great popularity in 2018, before the depths of the last bear market cycle. This recent bull cycle has never seen it fully recover its previous position, making it only a minor loss for the current cryptocurrency space. It remains to be seen whether other continent-based media platforms will be able to survive this difficult time.
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