OK Group, a blockchain technology firm formerly behind cryptocurrency exchange OKEx, will start working with Chinese authorities to combat money laundering, using blockchain technology. The company’s settlement-focused subsidiary, OKLink, has reached a partnership with Nanjing Public Security Research Institute to collaborate on applying blockchain tech for Anti-Money Laundering purposes. The institute announced that the partnership will include in-depth cooperation with OKLink to promote the integration of blockchain technology for improving public security and social governance. As part of the agreement, the parties will set up a research laboratory for exploring compliance strategies and systems implementing on-chain data analysis to combat …

As Bitcoin (BTC) has continued trading sideways after dipping below $33,000 on Thursday, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz has provided some geopolitical observations regarding the industry. In an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box, Novogratz said that Bitcoin price is now consolidating between $30,000 and $35,000, suggesting that the United States’ crypto community is now taking the lead in the market amid a bearish trend coming from Asia. The longtime Bitcoin bull noted that China’s crackdown on the crypto market is part of broader issues in the market, stating: “What we’re seeing is Asia sells it off and then the U.S. …

Is Binance crypto’s new whipping boy? Regulators in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Thailand and the Cayman Islands have all recently issued warnings and even criminal complaints against the cryptocurrency exchange. Even Poland entered the fray as its financial regulator warned citizens to exert “special caution” when using Binance’s trading services. Some have opined that the firm has only itself to blame for this recent burst of regulatory heat, but others fear the exchange is being held as a scapegoat for the entire crypto sector — which has grown too large too fast in the eyes of …

This weekly roundup of news from Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong attempts to curate the industry’s most important news, including influential projects, changes in the regulatory landscape and enterprise blockchain integrations. China crackdown: Week 7 The summer of crackdowns continued this week, making it seven weeks since the initial announcement on May 18 that virtual currencies were a risky investment and financial institutions should not provide services for them. The crackdown appears to be having the desired effect, as public interest in the asset class is cooling. This is evident by 90-day lows on WeChat searches for the word …

Bitcoin’s total estimated annual electricity consumption has plummeted nearly 60%, falling from the all-time peak above 143 terawatt-hours (TWh) in May to as low as 62 TWh in early July, according to data from Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI). This is the lowest energy consumption rate recorded since early November 2020. At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s annualized electricity consumption is estimated at 67 TWh, while the upper bound consumption, or the absolute maximum total electricity expenditure based on the worst case assumption, stands at 162 TWh, down from 520 TWh in mid-May. The lower bound estimate, which corresponds …

With each passing day, the list of nations actively exploring the idea of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) is continuing to grow at a rapid pace. While China’s digital yuan project may be the one that everyone talks about the most, in recent months, countries like The United Kingdom, Sweden and Japan have forged ahead with their own CBDC research and/or testing. That said, the digital yuan project is head-and-shoulders ahead of any of its contemporaries at this point, owing to the simple fact that Chinese authorities have already completed many beta-testing rounds of the currency across a number of …

The Chinese central bank is “quite worried” about the global financial risks associated with digital currencies, particularly stablecoins, according to a senior official. Fan Yifei, a deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), expressed concerns over the reportedly serious threat stablecoins, such as Tether (USDT), pose to global financial and settlement systems, CNBC reported on Thursday. The official emphasized that the speed of development in private payments systems is “very alarming,” and the PBoC is working against monopolies and the “disorderly expansion of capital,” adding: “Some commercial organizations’ so-called stablecoins, especially global stablecoins, may bring risks and challenges …

Hong Kong tech company Meitu has taken a $17.3-million hit on its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings — but on the upside, its Ether (ETH) holdings have gained $14.7 million. The developer of popular Photoshop-style apps spent a total of $100 million on BTC and ETH between March and April this year, acquiring a total of 940.89 BTC for $49.5 million and 31,000 ETH for $50.5 million. According to a Tuesday voluntary announcement from Meitu, the fair value of its BTC and ETH holdings is based on the market prices as of June 30, which is the final day of the firm’s …

Chinese banks have begun a hard sell of digital yuan wallets, asking staff to recruit hundreds of new users each year. According to a translation of a June 6 article from Shenlian Caijing, employees of top banks such as the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and the Bank of Communications, along with four other state-owned banks, have been instructed to promote digital yuan wallets to an average of 200 to 300 people a year. To entice new users, employees are able to offer an odd variety of small gifts, such as “laundry detergent, data cables, card holders, Chinese knots, …

Financial regulators in China have shut down a Beijing-based software company they suspect of providing services to crypto traders. In a Tuesday joint statement, the Beijing Financial Supervision and Administration Bureau and the Business Administration Department of the People's Bank of China issued a warning to all financial institutions and payment service providers to not provide any crypto-related services to customers. This includes not permitting businesses to advertise or provide office space for any “virtual currency-related business activities.” As part of a regulatory crackdown, the two groups announced they had ordered the shutdown of Beijing Tongdao Cultural Development, a company …

From June 20 1995 until June 23 2021, Hongkongers concerned about growing Chinese influence in the Special Administrative Region had at least one local media outlet in their corner. Apple Daily was known for its pro-democracy stance, when not covering sensationalist tabloid-style news — two editorial innovations that set it apart from almost all other media outlets in Hong Kong at the time of its launch. And although the publication survived a 2020 raid on its offices, when the CEO, COO, Editor in Chief and other executives were arrested by police on June 17 2021 on suspicion of violating Article …

China’s crackdown on Bitcoin (BTC) mining continues to face determined responses across the crypto ecosystem. One of the first BTC exchange operators and co-founder of Zap Protocol, Nick Spanos, said that the crackdown only proves Bitcoin is an unstoppable machine “if the world’s second-biggest economy can’t crush, devalue and manipulate Bitcoin.” Noting that the crackdown is increasing scarcity due to there being fewer miners relative to the transaction volume, Spanos underscored the increase in miners’ profits while the mining difficulty continues to decrease. He explained: “Bitcoin’s algorithm adjusts roughly every two weeks to allow one block of transactions to be …