A new Hong Kong government initiative seeks to attract professionals in Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) by simplifying the immigration policy, according to a press release published August 28. On Thursday, the government of Hong Kong published its first Talent List aimed at attracting “highly skilled” experts in 11 different fields, including fintech, DLT, and cyber security, from around the world. The move designates the government’s intention to “support Hong Kong's development as a high value-added and diversified economy.” According to the press release, Hong Kong will facilitate successful applicants under the Talent List through the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme (QMAS). …

Chinese cryptocurrency exchange Huobi has reportedly acquired the controlling stock interest in Hong Kong-based Pantronics Holdings Ltd. through a backdoor listing deal, local news outlet JRJ.com reported August 27. A backdoor listing, which is also known as a reverse takeover or reverse Initial Public Offering (IPO), allows a privately held company to purchase a publicly traded company avoiding the public offering process, regulatory issues, and due diligence. Upon completion of the deal, the buyer gains automatic inclusion on a stock exchange. Huobi reportedly acquired 73.73 percent of Pantronics Holdings Ltd., which makes the crypto exchange the actual controller of the …

Investment firm DST Global has confirmed that it “has never invested” into the cryptocurrency mining giant Bitmain’s pre-IPO in an email to Cointelegraph August 21. Cointelegraph received an anonymous tip today, claiming that DST Global has not participated in Bitmain’s $400 million funding round earlier this year, despite reports to the contrary. After being asked to confirm the rumour, John Lindfors, a managing partner at DST Global, has said this in an email to Cointelegraph today: “I can confirm that DST has never invested in Bitmain.” The news follows days after another major player, Uber’s largest investor SoftBank, told Cointelegraph …

Japanese social messaging app LINE announced the creation of a $10 million blockchain venture fund Wednesday, August 15, as part of its expansion into the cryptocurrency market. Launched via Hong Kong-based subsidiary unblock corp., the fund contains funds from fellow LINE sister outfit LVC Corporation. “Additionally, unblock ventures’ token fund is expected to expand in the future, according to the growth of the blockchain market,” the company commented in a press release, adding: “By launching this new corporate token fund, LINE is aiming to boost the development and adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.” The move, it claims, makes LINE …

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Business School has received a $20 million research grant to improve the security capabilities of electronic payment systems, China News reported August 12. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) Business School has reportedly partnered with the University of Hong Kong (HKU), the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), and the City University of Hong Kong (CityU) to work on the research project. Apart from the enhancement of the electronic payment security system, the parties will also explore blockchain technology applications, and discuss the possibility of Hong Kong’s transformation into …

Bitcoin (BTC) mining behemoth Bitmain is now valued at $15 billion after closing a pre-Initial Public Offering (IPO) funding round with backing from high-profile investors, QQ News reported August 4. The fresh financing deal, which is said to have closed on Saturday, notably includes investments from Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent and Japan’s Softbank, another tech giant whose 15 percent stake in Uber makes it the drive-hailing app’s largest shareholder. Tencent, meanwhile, is the developer of China’s dominant social media platform WeChat, which has over 1 billion global users and outstripped Facebook’s market cap by $72 billion in March of this …

Public South Korean biotech enterprise Macrogen, the country’s leading gene sequencing service provider, is developing a genomic big data blockchain-based platform together with local tech firm Bigster, according to an August 6 press release. The new partnership will leverage blockchain tech to create a medical big data ecosystem that would allow for both the secure and private storage and the transfer of large amounts of sensitive genomic and personal information. As the press release notes, advances in genomics are reshaping the global medical landscape, allowing for individually customized diagnoses, treatment and prevention. Medical big data, which integrates individuals’ genomic, health …

Jihan Wu, the co-CEO of crypto mining hardware giant Bitmain, is reportedly planning to conduct an overseas initial private offering (IPO), Fortune’s crypto-focused section The Ledger reports July 30. Bloomberg had reported in June that Wu was “open” to holding an IPO in a market with U.S. dollar denominated shares — like Hong Kong — as it would allow early backers to cash in funds. Fortune writes today that their daily newsletter “Term Sheet” acquired an email from an unnamed source close to Bitmain detailing the firm’s recent financials before the IPO, which will be filed for “very soon” in …

Although they don’t hold the same disruptive promise of radical decentralization as do their permissionless counterparts, private blockchains that governments and corporations run are still capable of transforming entire sectors of the world economy. Global trade has long been viewed as one of the most conspicuous areas for instrumental application of distributed ledger technology (DLT), with both trade finance and supply chains relying on antiquated, unreliable systems of record keeping and trust management. The recent news that Hong Kong’s financial regulator and a conglomerate of banks are poised to roll out a blockchain trade finance platform next month is yet …

The Fusang Investment Office, an Asia-based fund management firm focusing on family offices, is planning to launch a crypto-custody service in Hong Kong, local news outlet the South China Morning Post reports Sunday, July 22. The custody service, Fusang Vault, will hold digital assets for clients as well as provide periodic audits, according to the company’s CEO Henry Chong. The service’s launch is planned for the fourth quarter of 2018. Comparing digital assets to financial bonds, Chong noted the increasing need to provide an independent third party that would hold clients’ crypto assets, just like a demand for custodian bank …

The Global Media Blockchain Alliance has been established in Hong Kong to create a “healthy public opinion environment” for the blockchain industry, Taiwanese newspaper China Times reports July 20. At the 2018 Global Media Blockchain Summit, held in Hong Kong July 19, the Global Media Blockchain Alliance released its "Hong Kong Initiative." In it, they underlined the unique role of the media in providing high-quality information about the blockchain industry to the public, People’s Daily reports. The Global Media Blockchain Alliance has been established by an association of more than 100 mainstream media, according to China Times. The Alliance plans …

Hong Kong’s de facto central bank will launch its own blockchain trade finance solution with 21 banks in August, Financial Times (FT) reported Sunday, July 15. The joint venture between the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and Chinese company Ping An Group’s fintech subsidiary OneConnect aims to substantially reduce paperwork, costs security risks for participants, FT reports. A major aim of the 21-party scheme is to reduce the amount of time and bureaucracy involved in signing up new fledgling businesses to banking services by smoothing over transactions. Using blockchain, “some” transactions will process in just one day against up to fourteen …