A government crackdown on cryptocurrency exchanges continues to wash over China’s crypto industry. A promised issuance of blockchain-based bonds by one of China’s big four banks was indefinitely postponed. The government reveals more numbers on the digital yuan rollout.
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The world of blockchain moves fast, and nowhere does it move faster than China. Here’s what you need to know about China’s block-world in the week of Nov. 11-17.
Crackdown continues
On Wednesday, $300 million worth of bitcoins moved from crypto exchange Huobi to Binance, following rumors that Huobi’s COO is missing while being investigated by the Chinese government. (Coindesk)
Rumors that Huobi COO, Zhu Jiawei, had been arrested began circulating on Chinese social media on Nov. 2.
READ MORE: Reports of Huobi COO arrest spurs whale transactions as token sinks
Huobi denied the allegations, but Zhu’s whereabouts are still unclear.
The fact that Xu Mingxing, one of the co-founders of crypto exchange Okex, had been arrested has only intensified speculation that Zhu is also under arrest.
On Nov. 3, another $400 million moved from Huobi to Binance, this time in the form of stablecoin Tether.
Another crypto exchange, Token Better, said in a Weibo post on Nov. 9 that it was under investigation by Sichuan authorities.
Miners out of power
Crypto miners are having trouble paying electricity bills, as the crackdown on crypto expands to the mining industry. Many have had their bank cards frozen by authorities and are unable to pay for electricity, without which they cannot operate their mining rigs.
About 74% of miners have been affected by the “frozen card tide,” an informal survey by crypto blogger Colin Wu found. (WuBlockchain, in Chinese)
M.I.A. blockchain bonds
On Wednesday, Malaysian digital asset exchange Fusang announced it would be issuing $3 billion worth of blockchain-based bonds in collaboration with China Construction Bank. The bonds could be purchased using bitcoins, among other forms of currency, and would mature in February 2021.
It would be the first time that a Chinese bank issued blockchain-based bonds, and the crypto world was alight with excitement.
On Friday, CCB clarified that it was not issuing the bonds, but was merely a sponsor, and that it would not be accepting bitcoins in exchange for the debt.
On the same day, Fusang said it would postpone the bond issuance without specifying why or when the bonds would eventually become available. (The Block)
Digital yuan updates
The digital yuan is in use in more than 6,700 locations around China, including transportation, government services, restaurants, and shops.
Transactions worth RMB 8.76 million ($1.33 million) using digital yuan were processed during a red envelope pilot program in Shenzhen. The digital currency has been used for RMB 1.1 billion in transactions in total across pilots nationwide.
The People’s Bank of China Digital Currency Institute has reached strategic agreements with Didi and JD.com, the article said, but there were no further details. (People’s Daily Finance, in Chinese)