Chinese crypto investors look for ways to bypass restrictions: Blockheads

Some Chinese crypto investors are looking for ways to bypass the country’s crackdown on crypto trading. Hardware wallet company Keystone stops selling its wallet to mainland Chinese customers. Guangdong government uses blockchain to facilitate bank loans for businesses. 

Crackdowns on crypto 

• Chinese media outlet Beijing Business Today reported on Monday that many Chinese crypto investors are registering overseas company identities to bypass crypto exchange restrictions on Chinese users. The reports found an increased demand for overseas company registration services, which has prompted numerous third-party companies to sell those services on China’s e-commerce apps. Major crypto exchanges have stopped serving mainland Chinese customers since China increased its crackdown on crypto trading in September. (Beijing Business Today, in Chinese)

• Keystone, an open-sourced hardware wallet company, said it will stop selling its wallet to mainland Chinese users to comply with Chinese laws in a Monday notice. The company cited the Sept. 24 directive from China’s central bank aimed at cracking down on speculative crypto trading. (Blockbeats, in Chinese)

• Authorities in China’s eastern province of Zhejiang launched an operation in early September to rectify and shut down crypto mining operations that use public resources. The operation screened 4,699 internet protocol (IP) addresses and found that 77 entities that use 184 IP addresses are suspected of mining crypto using government and other public-owned resources. (Zhejiang Cyberspace Administration, in Chinese)

Blockchain usage

China’s southern Guangdong province has issued the country’s first certificate for public data assets using blockchain technology. The provincial government gave the certificate to a local metal manufacturer on Oct. 16. The document verified the manufacturer’s electricity usage in a certain period, which can be used as a mortgage certificate for bank loans. The provincial government’s data administration team built a blockchain-based platform to facilitate the process and plans to issue more certificates. (Guangdong Government, in Chinese)

Money laundering 

Police in China’s southwest province of Guizhou busted groups using cryptocurrencies to launder money worth RMB 800 million ($124 million). Police in Zunyi had been investigating the cases since July. They found 332 scam cases, arrested close to 100 suspects, and traced RMB 800 million to money laundered through crypto and other channels. (Guiyang Wanbao, in Chinese)