Our weekly roundup of news from East Asia curates the industry’s most important developments.
Bitcoin’s day of glory on Chinese TikTok
On Apr. 10, Douyin, the version of Tiktok exclusive to 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 rampant speculation among the Chinese media and users alike related to a potential change of policy by 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 Sept. 2022, Douyin has been cracking down on content relating to cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and Metaverse.
Hence, many individuals were genuinely surprised to see cryptocurrencies discoverable on the government-curated platform. For around 24-hours, any of Douyin’s estimated 730 million mainland Chinese users could freely view crypto price quotes on the app. However, dreams of a relaxation in the country’s strict crypto laws were crushed shortly thereafter. On Apr. 11, Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies price quotes were removed from Douyin, with a message stating:
“Based on relevant national regulations, unofficial digital currencies do not possess the same legal standing as fiat currencies. Please invest cautiously.”
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 the ownership of cryptocurrencies altogether and the Chinese controlled territory of Hong Kong has unveiled plans to become a crypto hub.
Bruce Lee lives again via NFTs
On Apr. 12, the Bruce Lee Foundation announced it would partner with NFT video platform Shibuya to launch a collection of genesis NFTs featuring the late legendary martial arts actor, who died in 1973 at the age of 32 under mysterious circumstances. The House of Lee collection is one sale on Manifold from Apr. 12 to Apr. 14 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 its design inspired by Shannon Lee, daughter of Bruce Lee and president of the Bruce Lee Estate. An Ethereum Name Service address has also been registered for the collection at bruceleeofficial.eth.
China’s 30M crypto users despite ban
According to a joint research report published on Apr. 10 by Foresight News, CoinNess, and BlockTempo, China still has around 30 million crypto users, representing around 2.12% of its population, compared to 12% for the U.S. and 11% for Taiwan. Researchers cited the Sept. 2021 People’s Bank of China ban on crypto-fiat transactions as “the nail in the coffin” for the industry in China.
That said, the report also noted Hong Kong is becoming a rising hub of blockchain technology in Asia. In Feb. 2023, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) proposed a pathway for exchanges to obtain regulatory licenses through fulfilling the custody, know-your-customer, record-keeping, and risk management requirements. The policy is scheduled to come into effect on June 1, 2023.
Interestingly, Foresight wrote that despite tailwinds from a spending campaign during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, only 13.61 billion of China’s digital yuan central bank digital currency (CBDC) were in circulation, representing just 0.13% of China’s M0 or outstanding monetary 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, are still active in the mainland China region. Notable projects tracing their origins from China include Conflux, Alchemy Pay, Animoca Brands, and CertiK.
Hong Kong’s rising Web3 power
On Apr. 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 its debut, Lee Ka-Chiu, chief executive of Hong Kong, 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…
cointelegraph.com