Asia Express – Cointelegraph Magazine
Our weekly roundup of news from East Asia curates the industry’s most important developments.
Bitcoin’s day of glory on Chinese TikTok
On April 10, Douyin, the version of Tiktok exclusively for Chinese users, began publishing price quotes related to Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE) and Ripple (XRP). The move sparked fierce speculation among both Chinese media and users related to a potential change in policy from the country’s central government on cryptocurrency regulation.
Unlike its Western counterpart, content on Douyin is heavily monitored and sometimes censored by Chinese authorities. Since September 2022, Douyin has cracked down on content related to cryptocurrencies, NFTs and Metaverse.
Therefore, many individuals were genuinely surprised to see cryptocurrencies discovered on the government-curated platform. For about 24 hours, any of Douyin’s estimated 730 million mainland Chinese users could freely view crypto prices on the app. However, dreams of a relaxation of the country’s strict crypto laws were dashed soon after. On April 11, quotes for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies were removed from Douyin, with a message saying:
“Based on relevant national regulations, unofficial digital currencies do not have the same legal status as fiat currencies. Please invest carefully.”
Since 2021, China has banned all forms of crypto exchanges, crypto-fiat transactions brokered by financial institutions, and initial coin offerings. That said, the country stopped short of banning cryptocurrency ownership altogether, and the Chinese-controlled territory of Hong Kong has unveiled plans to become a crypto hub.
Bruce Lee lives again via NFTs
On April 12, the Bruce Lee Foundation announced that it would be partnering with NFT video platform Shibuya to launch a collection of genesis NFTs featuring the late legendary martial artist, who died in 1973 at the age of 32 under mysterious circumstances. The House of Lee collection is one sale at Manifold from April 12th to April 14th and is minted on the Ethereum network, with digital image storage on Arweave.
There is no limit to the number of NFTs minted during the sale. At the time of publication, over 19,592 House of Lee digital collectibles have been minted with a current floor price of around 0.008 Ether. The Bruce Lee NFT was drawn by artists Maciej Kuciara and Emily Yang, with designs inspired by Shannon Lee, daughter of Bruce Lee and president of the Bruce Lee Estate. An Ethereum Name Service address is also registered for the collection at bruceleeofficial.eth.
China’s 30 million crypto users despite ban
According to a joint research report published on April 10 by Foresight News, CoinNess and BlockTempo, China still has around 30 million crypto users, representing around 2.12% of the population, compared to 12% for the US and 11% for Taiwan. Researchers cited the People’s Bank of China’s September 2021 ban on crypto-fiat transactions as the “nail in the coffin” for the industry in China.
That said, the report also noted that Hong Kong is becoming a growing hub for blockchain technology in Asia. In February 2023, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) proposed a pathway for exchanges to obtain regulatory licenses through compliance with depository, know-your-customer, record-keeping and risk management requirements. The guidelines are scheduled to enter into force on 1 June 2023.
Interestingly, Foresight wrote that despite tailwinds from a spending campaign during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, only 13.61 billion of China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) was in circulation, representing just 0.13% of China’s M0 or outstanding money supply. “Trade settlement applications are still in development and are only accepted by very limited partners,” the firm noted.
Despite headwinds, three major venture capital firms, Hashkey Capital, Dragonfly and Foresight Ventures, remain active in the mainland China region. Notable projects that trace their origins to China include Conflux, Alchemy Pay, Animoca Brands and CertiK.
Hong Kong’s growing Web3 power
On April 12, more than 10,000 crypto enthusiasts and 300 guest speakers gathered in Hong Kong for the Special Administrative Region’s annual Web3 Festival. During the debut, Hong Kong Chief Executive Lee Ka-Chiu pledged to allocate 700 million Hong Kong dollars ($89.17 million) from this year’s budget to accelerate the development of digital assets and Web3 technologies in the region. Chan Mo-Po, the Financial Secretary of Hong Kong, also commented:
“Web3 is in its infancy and the current common applications include cryptocurrency, decentralized exchanges, digital identity verification, DeFi, blockchain games and even NFT, but it is conceivable that in the future there will be many more new applications and opportunities. From a from a historical point of view, the development of Web3 will grow rapidly again after passing through the shock stage.”
Justin Sun’s dream date with the socialite overshadowed by legal problems
For Justin Sun, founder of Tron and de facto owner of cryptocurrency exchange Huobi Global, the 2023 Hong Kong Web3 Festival looks set to be the pinnacle of his blockchain career. First, before his arrival, Sun claims to have successfully turned around Huobi’s business after years of stagnation, delivering an impressive profit of $30 million in the first quarter of 2023.
Then, with an aura of awe, the blockchain personality dispelled rumors that he was arrested in Hong Kong upon arrival. In 2019, Sun allegedly hired a smuggler to help him bypass mainland China’s border controls and escape the country. This has been linked to exit restrictions due to his involvement in the initial coin offering (ICO) of Tron, which took place days before China banned ICOs. Sun has been away from mainland China since then. Interestingly, no extradition treaty exists between China and Hong Kong, after a bill on such a measure was overturned by a pro-democracy student uprising in 2019. The protests were in turn quashed by China’s central government.
Thanks to the students’ sacrifices, Sun was able to land in Hong Kong safely and come face-to-face with Nina, an iPollo community ambassador whom Sun wants to traits in a Huobi beauty pageant and “[personally] guarantee as a last participant in the Top 20.” Unfortunately, not everyone seems to be dazzled by Sun’s attempts at flirting. When the euphoria of the sun reached its peak while parties aboard a Binance yacht, the US Securities and Exchange Commission issued a subpoena for Sun on April 12, reminding him of his duty to appear in court on charges of fraud and securities law violations.
“If you fail to respond, a default judgment will be entered against you for the relief sought in the complaint. You must also submit the answer or petition to the court.”
The SEC complaint, filed March 26, alleges that Sun and his companies, Tron and BitTorrent, “fraudulently” manipulated the secondary market for Tron tokens through “extensive wash trading,” executed more than 600,000 such trades, and also paid a number of U.S. celebrities. to promote TRX and BitTorrent (BTT) tokens with zero disclosure.
The sun has since tired that the SEC complaint “lacks merit” and that the regulatory body is “still in its infancy and in need of further development” with respect to digital assets. The trial is ongoing. Around the same day as the subpoena, Binance.US announced that it would remove TRX from its platform.
