Global Coin Research: Trade war fears ignite, China accelerates CBDC efforts
Quick Take
- A summary of the week’s top crypto news in Asia by Global Coin Research
The following weekly newsletter is republished with permission from Global Coin Research, a global research firm with a focus on Asia blockchain and related technologies. You can find more resources on Asia Cryptocurrency and Blockchain at GlobalCoinResearch.com and on Twitter at @globalcoinrsrch
Global Coin Research Newsletters in Chinese
Trade War Fears Ignite
The Chinese renminbi depreciated to as much as Rmb7 per dollar on Monday—its lowest level since the 2008 global financial crisis—in what is widely believed to be a state-sanctioned response to Trumpian tariff threats.
And following Trump’s announcement last week that the U.S. would put a new 10% tariff on $300 billion worth of imports from China, Beijing confirmed it would suspend U.S. agricultural product purchases.
In a statement, the China Central Bank (PBoC) explained the currency movement, blaming trade protectionism and tariffs on Chinese goods for the currency’s weakening, without specifically mentioning the U.S., but adding that it “has the experience, confidence and capacity to keep the renminbi exchange rate fundamentally stable at a reasonable and balanced level.” It also assured its citizens that “the stability of the RMB is relatively strong, China is expected to become a hub designated for global capital.”
Markets around the world dropped immediately on Monday upon the announcement. In crypto, we are seeing ongoing arbitrage opportunities in China and Korea at the moment. On the ground, from Chinese social media and within the GCR network, many have touted Bitcoin as the go-to hedge in response to the currency wars. However this conflict evolves, it’s not something we’d like to see, but China’s decision will certainly bring attention to Bitcoin around the world, and we expect Chinese citizens to accelerate their crypto adoption.
Top News
China’s central bank said it will accelerate the research and development of its “legal digital currency”. Source
GCR interview Genesis Block Head of Trading — on Miners Driving Up Bitcoin Prices During Favorable Seasonality, the ongoing Hong Kong Protests, and Bitmain’s Matrixport OTC business. Source
SEC Commissioner Hester Pierce in Singapore said that SEC could learn from other countries such as Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong and Japan in Asia, as well as Malta and Switzerland in Europe, and Bermuda in North America. Source | She also expressed interest in building a non-exclusive safe harbor for token offerings. Source
North Korea has generated an estimated $2 billion for its weapons of mass destruction programs using “widespread and increasingly sophisticated” cyberattacks to steal from banks and cryptocurrency exchanges. Source
U.S. Federal Reserve Board on Monday announced that the Federal Reserve Banks will develop a new round-the-clock real-time payment and settlement service, called the FedNow℠ Service, to support faster payments in the United States. Source
Global Coin Research Q2 Asia Macro Outlook — Source
GCR Workshop #8: How do Chinese people use their crypto wallets? Source
Investments
NGC Ventures along with BlockVC has announced a strategic investment in Troy Network, the decentralized protocol for global trading and settlement, which also includes a prime brokerage. Source
Singapore’s LuneX Ventures eyes final close of $10 million crypto fund in October Source
Coins and Mining
Data protection and privacy authorities in the U.S., UK, EU, Australia, and Canada have issued a joint statement sharing concerns about Facebook’s cryptocurrency project, Libra. Source
Block.one has hired Christina Pantin, formerly Abernathy MacGregor and Samsung, as Asia-Pacific head of communications.
Filing shows that the Chinese company The9 Ltd bought 5,297,257 tokens during a Telegram initial token offering in January 2018 for $2 million, first of investors of Ton to be revealed. Source
In case you missed it, Global Coin Research has officially released its complete guide book on Asia Cryptocurrency and Blockchain communities titled: “The Small Handbook to Asia Crypto: on Local Ecosystems, Trends and Regulations”.
Business
Bitmain reportedly made a loss of $310 million in the first quarter of this year, including $625 in the first two months of this year and then mitigated in $315 million profit in March. Source
Cathay Pacific has introduced the first blockchain project to eliminate paper-based processes and manage unit load devices (ULDs) through a smartphone. Source
U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart may be working to issue a dollar-linked stable currency to help low-income families find alternatives to banks that are costly. Source
Regulations
Thailand’s anti-money laundering regulator is planning to amend the country’s laws to include cryptocurrency. Source
Venezuela reportedly dodges U.S. sanctions with crypto in airports: president Nicolas Maduro has authorized the use of an app which collects aeronautical taxes, and then their conversion to Bitcoin. Source
Iran government claims that it will not recognize as lawful any trade activity carried out inside Iran involving cryptocurrencies. It will also not view the digital coins as legal tender and the Central Bank of Iran would not guarantee their value. Source
The Indonesian central bank has held talks with Facebook and it is not certain whether Libra will operate in the country. Source
South Korea’s military acquisitions agency, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), is developing a blockchain platform to improve business operations. Source
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