When most people hear about buying Bitcoin (BTC) or other cryptocurrencies, they immediately think of the largest exchanges, most of which are located in Asia. Today, countries such as China and South Korea have become epicenters of blockchain innovation. However, in many countries, it’s still unclear whether cryptocurrencies are allowed, and if they are, what their status is. So, here’s how the regulation of the cryptocurrency market in Asia is shaping up and what should be expected from governments in the near future. China goes digital with the yuan Today, China is home to many cryptocurrency projects and exchanges, and …
Owner of major social media app TikTok, ByteDance, has launched a joint venture with state-owned Chinese media group and ThePaper.cn operator Shanghai Dongfang Newspaper to develop business models that include blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI), Bloomberg reported on Dec. 14. TikTok may use blockchain and AI to fight Deepfakes The joint venture was launched in the capital of eastern China’s Shandong province, Jinan, on Dec. 10 with a registered capital of 10 million yuan ($1.43 million). ByteDance owns 49% of the venture while the rest is owned by the Chinese media group. TikTok sees 500 million monthly active users and …
Chinese crypto mining giant Bitmain is closing its development center in Israel and firing local employees, Israeli business news outlet Globes has learned Monday, Dec. 10. Bitmaintech Israel — founded in 2016 to explore the use of blockchain technology, work on the Connect BTC mining pool, and develop the infrastructure behind Bitmain’s artificial intelligence (AI) project Sophon — will close this week. All 23 employees will be fired, the Globes reports. Gadi Glikberg, head of the Israeli branch as well as Bitmain vice president of international sales and marketing, is also leaving. Globes reports that Glikberg linked the closure to …
Ping An Bank, a subsidiary of China’s Ping An Insurance Group, will launch a boutique bank using blockchain, cloud services, and the Internet of Things (IoT). Ping An Insurance Group is one of the world's leading financial and insurance corporations, and their subsidiary’s announcement was reported on Nov. 20 by People’s Daily, China’s official state run press service. A boutique bank is defined as a non-full service investment bank that supports more individualized services than larger firms. The new boutique bank will rely on Ping An Group's scientific and technological skills and comprehensive financial capabilities to provide integrated financial services …
Singapore e-government service provider CrimsonLogic has unveiled its cross-border blockchain network for global trade, according to a July 18 press release. Dubbed the Open Trade Blockchain (OTB), the platform is principally designed to boost the efficiency of trade corridors between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) nations. Various operators have already signed up to join OTB, including the China-ASEAN Information Harbor Co., TIFFA Group, and Singapore’s Commodities Intelligence Centre. According to Eugene Wong, the chairman of CrimsonLogic and its subsidiary, GeTS, which will operate the platform, blockchain tech can “help create greater trust amongst cross-border traders,” adding …