China and Japan are pushing forward with their respective pilots for central bank-issued digital currencies, or CBDCs. On March 26, Bank of Japan announced it had established the Liaison and Coordination Committee on Central Bank Digital Currency to convene with both the private sector on the banks upcoming CBDC proof-of-concept, or PoC, stating: “The Bank, through this committee, will share details of, and provide updates on the PoC with the private sector and the government and will seek consultation on future steps to facilitate smooth implementation of the PoC.” The announcement also noted the bank has been preparing to conduct …

Despite grand visions of enabling farmers in Vietnam access to the world of global finance via Decentralized Finance, emerging markets could represent as little 10% of visitors engaging with the top DeFi DApps. Proponents have long hoped crypto and DeFi would allow citizens around the world a means to circumvent the barriers created by economic underdevelopment, however the data suggest users from the world’s largest economies dominate the DeFi rankings by online traffic. A new report from The Defiant examines the top five geographical sources of traffic for the 10 largest DeFi platforms by Total Value Locked in February, with …

Chinese authorities are willing to ensure maximum user privacy for the country’s central bank digital currency, or CBDC, according to an official at the People’s Bank of China. Mu Changchun, head of the People’s Bank of China’s digital currency research institute, spoke of China’s digital yuan privacy capabilities at the 2021 China Development Forum on Sunday, local news agency Sina Finance reported. Mu stated that a completely anonymous CBDC “is not feasible” because a national digital currency must meet requirements related to Anti-Money Laundering, Counter-Terrorist Financing and anti-tax evasion. However, that doesn’t mean that China’s digital yuan lacks user privacy, …

Bart Baker, arguably the most famous American social media influencer in China, is releasing a series of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, in collaboration with DeFine Art. Baker, who has around 24 million followers across multiple Chinese social media platforms, will auction eight unique NFTs as part of the collaboration. One of the NFTs, called "The Bart Baker Experience," will allow the winner of the auction to make a video with Baker that will be circulated on social media and minted into an NFT. The other seven auctions will be for Baker’s most popular videos minted in NFT format. Commenting on …

Chinese tech company Meitu has announced the investment of a further $50 million into Ether and Bitcoin, taking its net spend on crypto up to roughly $90 million this month. The Hong Kong and China listed company purchased 386.08 BTC for $21.6 million, and 16,000 ETH for around $28.4 million, on March 17. The most recent announcement follows an initial cryptocurrency investment on March 5, in which the company acquired 15,000 ETH for around $22.1 million and roughly 379 BTC for approximately $17.9 million. In the latest announcement, the company noted that while cryptocurrency is still in its formative stages, …

Chinese holding conglomerate Ping An Group filed the largest number of blockchain-related patents in 2020, according to a new report. Intellectual property-focused magazine Intellectual Asset Management has released a report on the rankings of the world’s foremost blockchain patentees. Based on data from the Derwent World Patents Index, the rankings show that Ping An filed 1,215 blockchain patent families in 2020, more than Tencent and Ant Group combined. Owning a total of 1,749 blockchain patent families, Ping An sharply increased its number of patent applications in 2020, up from just 291 in 2019. Based in Shenzhen, Ping An operates a …

China’s determination to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to the utilization of blockchain technology was evidenced again this week, after the release of the country’s latest five-year development plan. The word “blockchain” was reportedly mentioned for the first time in the 14th of China’s regular five-year plans, which lay out the country’s economic priorities for the period from 2021 to 2025, according to local news outlet Pingwest. China’s exploration into new technology has been unceasing in recent years. From its ongoing scheme to roll out a central bank digital currency to its utilization of digital biometric hardware …

Shanghai’s New World City and New World Daimaru Department Store, and food caterer Taikang Food Store handled thousands of digital yuan transactions over the past weekend, Shanghai Daily reports. As part of the trial, the retailers featured digital yuan payments as part of a sales campaign in conjunction with International Women’s Day. Brand director of Shanghai New World Li Wei said that the firm reached out to commercial banks to offer discounts as part of the campaign. “We have worked to upgrade the digital payment module ahead of the trial program, and we believe it offered extra stimulus for shoppers …

After a tumultuous 2020 that continued into Bitcoin (BTC) setting new all-time highs in 2021, Bitcoin miners are facing a bittersweet scenario — profits have skyrocketed, but multiple issues prevent them from buying more devices and boosting Bitcoin’s hash rate. According to the founder of major mining pool BTC.Top, Jiang Zhuoer, global electronics supply chain issues are having their effect on the mining industry as well. Speaking with Cointelegraph, he said: “There is definitely a shortage of equipment right now because, since the coronavirus epidemic, the global supply chain has been interrupted and is now in the process of gradually …

The CEO of the United States’ largest cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, has topped the list of global industry billionaires by China’s Hurun Research Institute. Issued on March 2, the latest Hurun report provides a brief overview of the world’s richest, stating that the number of global billionaires has surged nearly 50% to hit over 3,000 people over the past five years. The report includes 17 “blockchain billionaires,” or industry entrepreneurs who made their fortune “mainly from cryptocurrency” as of January 2021. According to the report, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong is the world’s biggest crypto billionaire, with his net worth surging ten-fold …

While users might still be able to adapt some gaming consoles for mining cryptocurrency, evidence suggests that recent reports of a modified PlayStation 5 mining Ether (ETH) are fake. According to a report from news outlet GizChina, Chinese software developer Yifan Gu mined Ether using a PlayStation 5. The report claimed that the developer may have overclocked the PS5’s AMD Ryzen CPU and AMD Radeon GPU cards to achieve a mining hash rate of 98.76 megahertz per second, and a screenshot from Gu showed the seemingly modified hardware required 211 watts of power to run. However, the screenshot shared by …

Authorities of the Chinese autonomous region of Inner Mongolia have proposed closing down all local cryptocurrency mining facilities to reduce energy consumption in the region. The Inner Mongolia National Development and Reform Commission, or NDRC, released an official proposal to shut down local crypto mining operations in line with its energy-saving rules. Published Thursday of last week, the draft proposal suggests to “comprehensively clean up and shut down virtual currency mining projects” by the end of April. The authority also proposed a strict ban on new cryptocurrency mining projects in the region. The NDRC will collect public feedback on the …