Enterprise blockchain VeChain, in partnership with Shanghai’s Renji Hospital, has announced the launch of a smart medical care project dubbed “MyBaby” — a blockchain-based In-Vitro fertilization (IVF) service application. The project also includes collaboration with Vechain partner DNV — with the latter working with VeChain to provide supply chain governance along with product and digital assurance for the project. Vechain, a supply-chain management and smart contract platform said in a post that MyBaby is the “first service” to combine third-party IVF data with blockchain technology: “The cryptographically secured properties of blockchain technology create a secure and reliable environment and enhance …

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. Could green miners get a pass? Last week’s column had a look at the recent crackdown on cryptocurrency miners as China heads towards a more carbon-neutral policy. This week, the Southwest province of China was humming a slightly different tune as the Sichuan Energy Regulatory Office organized a symposium on the topic. The province has a heavy mining concentration due to low cost energy generated from a developed …

Following China’s major regulatory crackdown on cryptocurrencies, financial regulators in Hainan, the smallest province in the country, reportedly issued a warning against crypto- and blockchain-focused illegal fundraising schemes. According to local reports, the Hainan branch of the People’s Bank of China — the central bank of the country — and the local financial supervisory authority were among the regulators that made the announcement. Regulators warned investors about illegal fundraising campaigns that use digital currency or blockchain as promotion material, stating that illicit token issuance and financing activities are forbidden. “Any so-called token financing platform shall not engage in the business …

With the crypto market turning up its pace of growth over the last year and a half, the idea behind central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) seems to have gained an increasing amount of traction among many governments and retail banking institutions. In this regard, as per a study recently released by consulting giant PwC, more than 60 central banks have been exploring the unique value proposition put forth by CBDCs. Furthermore, it bears mentioning that following the dawn of the coronavirus pandemic, the use of physical cash has continued to dwindle globally, with many now transitioning to digital payments in …

The Chinese government is launching another digital yuan lottery to stimulate its ongoing digital currency trials, this time in the capital of Beijing. The Beijing Local Financial Supervision and Administration officially announced Tuesday that the government will distribute 40 million digital yuan ($6.2 million) to Beijing residents as part of a new digital currency pilot. Starting in June, the program features “red envelopes” — a traditional way of gifting money — with each providing a free online wallet containing 200 digital yuan ($31). These red envelopes will be distributed to 200,000 lottery winners, who must download an application to use …

The CEO of Nasdaq-listed Canaan Inc, a China-based firm that specializes in Bitcoin (BTC) mining equipment, argued that China’s Bitcoin mining ban should make allowances for green-energy users during a conference call on Tuesday. Zhang Nangeng said that an indiscriminate ban on Bitcoin mining failed to take into account the potential economic benefits that could arise from embracing green-energy mining. Zhang stated that mining could present a solution to the oversupply of electricity in certain regions of the country, where resultant low energy prices already attract miners. “For-profit miners prefer regions with low electricity prices that indicate oversupply, and likely …

China’s digital yuan will utilize smart contracts, and will be built to counter Alipay-like payment platforms designed by the privately-owned conglomerates, former People’s Bank of China director Yao Qian said. Speaking at the International Finance Forum in Beijing, Qian argued that simply simulating its physical counterpart would not be enough for the digital yuan to succeed. To fully benefit from being digital, it will move toward the "smart currency" by making use of smart contracts, he added, according to local sources. Central banks need to innovate the legal fiat money to keep up with the tides of digitalization, he said. …

As Beijing attempts to regulate and suppress the cryptocurrency boom, traders have been evading regulatory oversight by using over-the-counter trading desks. According to a report on Monday published by Bloomberg, there has been a significant uptick in OTC platform usage since China announced its latest crackdown earlier this month, with China tightening restrictions prohibiting financial institutions and payment companies from providing services related to cryptocurrencies. While exact volume data is hard to ascertain as Chinese OTC transactions are peer-to-peer and use third-party payment platforms, the exchange rate between China’s yuan and popular stablecoin Tether (USDT) is seen as a key …

Coming every Saturday, Hodler’s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link. Top Stories This Week Bearish signals grow as Bitcoin price drops to $35,000 and traders ignore the dip Bitcoin is struggling right now. The cryptocurrency has struggled to keep its head above $40,000 this week as traders react negatively to twin threats of environmental concerns and the growing drumbeat of regulation. We’ve seen a lot of downside moves across …

Edward Evenson, head of business development at Slush Pool owner Braiins, reported that a large number of Chinese Bitcoin (BTC) mining machines equivalent to Quebec’s entire output will be moving to North America and Europe. For those interested in the #Bitcoin mining news coming out of China I’ve had 300-400MW of mining machines contact me to help them distribute their machines across NA and some parts of EU. Some have also begun shipping machines to Kazakhstan. — Edward Evenson (@WillHash4Coins) May 27, 2021 In a Twitter thread on Friday, Evenson revealed that some Chinese BTC miners also have their eyes …

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 regulations — Fact or FUD? Normally, this weekly column takes a broad look at all the developments, news and even gossip from within China. This week, most topics took a backseat to the news of another crackdown that had rippled through the industry, threatening to topple markets into a full-blown bear market. Abandoning the mines It was all fun and games until a ruling came down from …

China has ramped up efforts to quash cryptocurrency mining in its Inner Mongolia region by introducing new penalties for those caught engaging in the illegal activity. Officials unveiled new draft rules that would see harsher punishments applied to those caught mining Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies, per a report by the South China Morning Post. These would include placing offenders on a social credit blacklist, which would stop them from getting loans or even using the transportation system. The new rules make particular mention of data centers, industrial parks, telecoms companies, internet firms and even cybercafes, noting that any such …