The Chinese government’s beloved project of central bank digital currency (CBDC) has not sparked much enthusiasm in the citizens of Hong Kong. In the first four days since the “digital yuan” (also known as “e-CNY”) hard wallets became accessible to the islanders, only 625 Hongkongers had actually obtained them. As reported by the local newspaper on Feb. 28, the city of Shenzhen installed the machines, dispensing the hard wallets for digital yuan, the first of a kind in the whole country. Due to the city’s unique location as a gateway from Hong Kong to mainland China, the machines were programmed …

A cryptocurrency researcher and former CIA analyst believes the United States government’s relatively slow start on Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) development may result in it losing grip on controlling the global financial system. Yaya Fanusie, the policy head at the crypto advocacy group the Crypto Council for Innovation explained in a Feb. 28 Bloomberg interview that sanctioned states are looking to transact on financial infrastructure that isn’t controlled or heavily influenced by the U.S. in order to move funds more freely cross-borders. If the U.S. continues to sit on the “sidelines” and lag behind on CBDC adoption, Fanusie believes …

The creation of a United States digital dollar would “crowd out” the cryptocurrency ecosystem and protect the national security of the U.S. according to a former top advisor in president Joe Biden’s administration. Daleep Singh — a former Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics in the Biden administration — made the comments at a Feb. 28 Senate Banking Committee hearing, suggesting that cryptocurrencies facilitate ransomware attacks and contribute to the evasion of U.S. sanctions. Singh believes the U.S. government embracing a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) “is the single best step that we could take [to protect national interests] …

Bitcoin (BTC) hodlers need to watch the central banks of China and Japan as well as the United States as BTC/USD battles “huge” resistance. That was the opinion of trading firm QCP Capital, which in its latest crypto market research piece, “The Crypto Circular,” warned that Bitcoin faces risks far beyond the Federal Reserve. Bitcoin "most direct global liquidity proxy" Having survived the latest flood of macroeconomic data from the U.S., Bitcoin is nonetheless flagging right below $25,000 as bulls run out of momentum. For QCP Capital, there is now reason to believe that risk factors for price performance will …

The price of Ether (ETH) rallied 18% between Feb. 13 and Feb. 16 but has since been range trading near the $1,700 level. Despite the recent price improvement, Ether derivatives metrics remain neutral-to-bullish ponder the investors the tighter regulatory environment and the potential impact of Ethereum’s Shanghai upgrade. Investors' biggest concern right now is regulation, especially after the United Kingdom’s Financial Stability Board (FSB) recently stated that most stablecoins fail to meet international standards. The entity was created by the G20 and is affiliated with the Bank of International Settlements (BIS). FSB chair Klaas Knot stated that the appropriate regulation …

Hong Kong’s ambition of becoming a cryptocurrency hub is reportedly seeing subtle support from the Chinese government, in what could be seen as a contrast to the mainland’s hard-line anti-crypto stance. In October last year, the government of Hong Kong floated the idea of introducing its own bill to regulate crypto and allow retail investors to “directly invest into virtual assets” that could possibly be in contrast to China’s widespread crypto ban. According to people familiar with the matter, Beijing officials have not been brazenly opposed to the idea. According to a Feb. 20 Bloomberg report, it is understood that …

Conflux Network (CFX) is up nearly 500% in the past week with CFX emerging as one of the best-performing crypto assets in 2023 as China appears to be warming to cryptocurrency trading. What is Conflux Network? Interestingly, Conflux Network, also known as Shanghai Tree-Graph Blockchain Research Institute, is the only regulatory-compliant, public and permissionless blockchain in China. Conflux is a layer-1 blockchain operating on a hybrid proof-of-work and proof-of-stake mechanism. CFX's price has rallied nearly 1,335% year-to-date (YTD) to reach $0.3254 as of Feb. 24, its highest level in fourteen months. In comparison, the combined market capitalization of crypto assets …

Bitcoin (BTC) spent another day tackling $25,000 on Feb. 20 as analysts continued to warn over market manipulation. Bitcoin buoyed by "Notorious B.I.D." Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD making up losses from around the weekly close to approach the $25,000 mark again at the time of writing. Bulls remained unable to spark a resistance-support flip, however, and whale activity on exchanges kept suspicions high. In its latest update, monitoring resource Material Indicators revealed that large-volume traders were artificially “thinning” resistance overhead, making it more likely that BTC/USD would move higher. Co-founder Keith Alan referenced a wall …

Despite its ongoing crackdown on crypto, China continues to embrace blockchain technology — up to the point of launching the National Blockchain Technology Innovation Center in the capital city of Beijing. According to the China Daily’s report from Feb. 8, the Center will create a research network with the local universities, think tanks and blockchain businesses to carry out the inquiries into core blockchain technologies. The fruits of this research will be used for further digitalization of China and, as emphasized in the report, its industry in particular. In charge of the new institution is the Beijing Academy of Blockchain …

The U.K. outline of the future financial services regulatory regime for crypto covers a broad range of topics, from the troubles of algorithmic stablecoins to nonfungible tokens and initial coin offerings. And it’s certainly good news for the industry, as the upcoming regulation doesn’t propose a ban on algorithmic stablecoins or excessive requirements on data sharing for digital asset operators. The Australian consultation paper on “token mapping” is a foundational step in the government’s multistage reform agenda to regulate the market. Based on the “functional” and technology-neutral method, the paper proposes several basic definitions for all things crypto. Its taxonomy …

Millions of dollars worth of China’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) has been handed out across the country over the Lunar New Year period in a bid to boost its takeup. According to a Feb. 6 report in the Global Times, an English-language outlet of the state-ran People’s Daily newspaper, around 200 “activities” for the e-CNY were launched across the country during the holiday period. These "activities" were made to “promote consumption” — the first of such since the government recently relaxed COVID-19 restrictions. Multiple cities reportedly gave away over $26.5 million, or 180 million yuan worth of the CBDC …

India’s Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, stated that regulation “cannot be done” by a single country, it requires “collective action,” in a recent television interview. Speaking to Rahul Joshi on CNBC-TV18 in India on Feb. 3, Sitharaman noted that while the central bank is the “authority for issuing cryptocurrency,” the rest of the digital assets created outside are “using very useful financial technologies.” Sitharaman said that India is looking at a "global" standard operating procedure (SOP) to be “agreed upon” for regulating crypto assets, ahead of India hosting the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in Bengaluru later this …