The third batch of digital RMB pilot cities will be unveiled soon | Industrial Blockchain Development Weekly

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Industry News:

Wanglaoji releases new ten-year strategy and launches Metaverse "Ji Space"

HTC releases Metaverse app VIVERSE, supporting NFT and digital asset storage and management

Chengdu Lian'an: More than 20 typical security incidents occurred in February, with losses of nearly US$400 million

Coinbase: No blanket ban on all transactions involving Russian addresses

Russia's central bank says its SWIFT alternative is ready

Indian educational institutions are stepping up blockchain course construction to meet the market demand for blockchain talents

Policy related:

Shenzhen: Supporting trading headquarters enterprises to participate in digital RMB related product and system pilot activities on a priority basis

Tianjin Binhai Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone: Subsidies will be provided to blockchain and other platform-based enterprises at a rate not exceeding 30% of the total project investment.

Hangzhou 13th Party Congress Report: Continue to expand blockchain and other industries and speed up the layout of future industries such as the metaverse

The court ruled that the virtual currency mining agreement was invalid, and the Sichuan Provincial Development and Reform Commission stated that it had cleared several mining farms at the beginning of the year

Financial Stability Bureau of the Central Bank: China's share of global Bitcoin trading volume has rapidly dropped from over 90% to 10%

Technological innovation:

Tencent's blockchain transaction method patent published

POS Proof of Stake becomes the only blockchain technology selected as one of MIT's "Top Ten Breakthrough Technologies of 2022"

Tencent Virtual Concert Patent Published

Investment and Financing:

FTX launches charitable fund FTX Future Fund, plans to distribute at least $100 million this year

Carbon neutral blockchain application Nori receives $7 million in Series A funding, led by M13

South Korea's Ministry of Science, ICT and Innovation announces $185 million investment to build a Metaverse ecosystem

Blockchain storage application ArDrive completes $17.2 million seed round of financing, led by Arweave team

Industry Applications:

Xiamen International Trade "Single Window" Financial Blockchain Platform Adds Six More Application Scenarios

Watch brand MRISSTIME will release 10,000 NFT watch products

Lakala announces the opening of blockchain evidence storage and other services

Special focus: Digital currency

Heilongjiang: Actively promote the application for digital RMB pilot

IMF: Nigeria's digital currency eNaira could bring new money laundering and terrorist financing risks

The third batch of digital RMB pilot cities will be unveiled soon

Beijing will expand the application of digital RMB and deepen the digital RMB pilot

Gyro Reviews

This week, as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues, the crypto space has reacted strongly. On the one hand, according to the US announcement, Russia will be excluded from the international settlement system Swift and will not be able to use the settlement system to settle international trade and other capital flows. Although Russia has stated that it will resist the financial sanctions through its own settlement system SPFS, people related to crypto believe that it will bring benefits to cryptocurrency settlement. Large exchanges such as Coinbase and Binance have made it clear that they will not freeze Russian user accounts. On the other hand, due to Ukraine's request for help for cryptocurrency on social media, many people have spontaneously made crypto donations to it, which has now exceeded 30 million US dollars. And celebrities such as Vitalik Buterin have also begun to stand up for the Ukrainian DAO organization. But in fact, as a means of payment with unstable currency value and huge market turmoil, the instability of cryptocurrency does not have the attributes of currency. For example, the price of BTC on Ukrainian exchanges has exceeded 3,000 US dollars. Although decentralized currency is indeed what everyone wants in the current chaotic situation, subsequent adoption is still difficult. At the same time, although there are many DAO organizations raising funds for Ukraine, some of their founders clearly have prominent political backgrounds, and some of them may be intended to hype, ride on the popularity of the topic, and attract attention, so we still need to be vigilant.

In recent months, with the increasing use cases of digital collections in various industries, the digital collection market has become hot, and well-known brands have continued to enter. However, under the positive market sentiment, digital collections have also caused a lot of controversy. Although digital collections have been stripped of their own financial speculation attributes, and many trading platforms have also clearly restricted the secondary circulation of digital collections, the author found that over-the-counter transactions of digital collections are still common. The secondary transactions of digital collections have built a complete industrial chain from information release, rush purchase, over-the-counter purchase and other processes. At the same time, the market speculation continues, and the prices of some digital collections have even increased from tens to tens of thousands. In some digital collection trading groups, there is a wide range of information about digital collections, such as platform sorting, digital collection sales, new platform airdrops, price broadcasts, etc., and due to the popularity of rush purchases, some users have even added scripts and manual rush services. Although digital collectibles can exist as digital artworks from a certain perspective, there should be certain mechanisms and standards for measuring their prices. The current popularity of digital collectibles is more due to the enthusiasm of speculators rather than the appreciation and pursuit of artworks and artistic spirit. Looking at the digital collectible trading platforms, the platforms open to secondary circulation are mostly built by a newly registered company claiming to be on the chain. Not only is the technical security difficult to guarantee, but the compliance is also poor.

The list of the third batch of digital RMB pilot areas is about to be exposed. According to Beijing Business Daily, the third batch of pilot areas may add Tianjin, Zhejiang (Hangzhou, Ningbo, Wenzhou, Huzhou, Shaoxing, Jinhua, etc.), Fujian (Fuzhou, Xiamen, etc.), Guangzhou, Chongqing and other regions. Previously, Henan, Fujian, Heilongjiang, Chongqing, Guangdong and other provinces and cities have successively written digital RMB into their development plans, and clearly proposed to actively strive for digital RMB pilots. Overall, it is a general trend for digital RMB to expand from technical debugging and small-scale pilots to basic improvement and large-scale multi-applications. In local pilots, compared with the previous small-amount and high-frequency dominated by C-end users, the third batch of pilots will focus more on the combination of digital RMB and industrialization. This can be seen from the provincial and municipal development plans. For example, Fuzhou proposed in its "14th Five-Year Plan for Financial Industry Development" to actively strive for the central bank's digital RMB pilot, explore the establishment of new factor trading institutions such as digital assets, and create a digital financial service platform of "property transfer + investment and financing + value-added services". Actively expand the application of digital RMB, encourage cross-border e-commerce companies to apply new technologies to innovate business models, and provide high-quality international consumer experience. From the perspective of overseas settlement, the pilot program of digital RMB in cross-border payments will also accelerate breakthroughs.

Part 1Industry Trends

Wanglaoji releases new ten-year strategy and launches Metaverse "Ji Space"

According to the Securities Times on March 1, Wanglaoji released its new ten-year strategy at the Innovation and Development Conference for its 10th anniversary, proposing to create "Fashionable Wanglaoji, Digital Wanglaoji, Innovative Wanglaoji, Responsible Wanglaoji", strive to become "Global Beverage No. 1", and strive to achieve the plan of doubling revenue and profit in the next 10 years. The launch ceremony of Wanglaoji Metaverse "Ji Space" was also held at the conference. Wanglaoji stated that it will use Metaverse-related technology applications to enhance consumer scene experience and build the company into a benchmark for digital enterprises in the fast-moving consumer goods industry.

HTC releases Metaverse app VIVERSE, supporting NFT and digital asset storage and management

HTC unveiled its latest metaverse application VIVERSE for the first time at the 2022 Mobile World Congress (MWC), and showcased new metaverse products, platforms and experiences. HTC also announced partner information, including Beatday, Engage, VRchat and VIVE Sync. Users can enter the VIVERSE metaverse through Vive Connect, and VIVERSE has also received support from the VIVE Arts NFT market. HTC claims that the Vive Flow VR headset connected to the VIVERSE metaverse will be the first VR device to support encrypted wallets. Users can use WalletConnect through the smartphone companion application to securely store and manage NFTs and digital assets. (VentureBeat)

Chengdu Lian'an: More than 20 typical security incidents occurred in February, with losses of nearly US$400 million

According to the security public opinion monitoring data of Chengdu Lian'an [Lian Bing-Blockchain Security Situation Awareness Platform], more than 20 typical security incidents occurred in February 2022. There were 7 typical security incidents in DeFi, 6 typical security incidents in fraud/crypto scams, 1 typical security incident in ransomware/mining Trojans, and 6 typical security incidents in other aspects.

The security risks exposed by DeFi in February cannot be ignored. Cross-chain bridge projects have been repeatedly attacked by hackers, and the huge economic losses caused have seriously affected the security and stability of the blockchain ecosystem. In addition, this month, related incidents of scams and crypto scams have resurfaced, which still need to be paid attention to. The number of NFT thefts has increased, and everyone needs to be more vigilant.

Coinbase: No blanket ban on all transactions involving Russian addresses

Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov previously publicly called on major cryptocurrency exchanges to block Russian users. In response, Coinbase said: "There will not be a blanket ban on all Coinbase transactions involving Russian addresses." In addition, a representative of Binance also said on Monday that the company has no plans to unilaterally freeze Russian user accounts. Earlier, it was reported that the Ukrainian government escalated its rhetoric against Russian cryptocurrency users last Sunday, saying that it was time to crack down on ordinary users. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said he requested that "all major cryptocurrency exchanges ban the addresses of Russian users." (Decrypt)

Russia's central bank says its SWIFT alternative is ready

As Western countries and their allies impose a SWIFT ban on Russian banks after initial resistance from countries such as Germany, TASS reported that the head of the Russian Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, is considering a direct replacement for SWIFT with the Financial Message Transfer System (SPFS). She claimed that while the system's members currently "mainly include Russian and Belarusian banks," some banks from Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Tajikistan, Cuba and Kazakhstan have already joined.

TASS noted that the first SPFS pilot was conducted in 2014, and while the network is interoperable with SWIFT, it can be used completely independently of the latter. The outlet added that “subsidiaries of large Russian banks in Germany and Switzerland” can also use SPFS, and that “negotiations are ongoing” to enable SPFS settlements “with China.” (Cryptonews)

Indian educational institutions are stepping up blockchain course construction to meet the market demand for blockchain talents

According to Forkast on March 3, the Indian talent market is widely seeking top blockchain talents, and educational institutions are customizing blockchain courses to meet learning needs. Anuj Kapoor, assistant professor at IIMA College in India, said that the promotion of the digital rupee by the Indian central bank will increase the public's acceptance of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. IIMA is currently offering an elective course on Bitcoin and blockchain technology. In addition, the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT-KGP) is offering a 12-week free blockchain online course.

South Korean telecom giant SK Telecom plans to launch Ifland metaverse service in 80 countries

South Korean telecom operator SK Telecom (SKT) said at the Mobile World Congress MWC 2022 in Barcelona that it aims to launch its Ifland metaverse service in 80 countries this year in an effort to become a global leader in next-generation key technologies. In addition, the company's CEO Ryu Young-sang said SKT is bringing its AI semiconductor and quantum encryption technologies to the international market. Ryu Young-sang said at a press conference that Ifland has become a "mainstream new communications platform" and has received more than 1,500 cooperation requests in South Korea. He said SKT will open the platform to allow customers to generate content and will soon launch a blockchain-backed virtual market. (C114 Communication Network)

Part 2 Policy related

Shenzhen: Supporting trading headquarters enterprises to give priority to participating in digital RMB related product and system pilot activities

Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Commerce issued the "Implementation Opinions on Supporting the Development of Trade-Oriented Headquarters Enterprises (Trial)". The "Opinions" pointed out that trade-oriented headquarters enterprises are supported to give priority to participating in the pilot activities of interest rate marketization reform, RMB internationalization, and digital RMB related products and systems, and explore the pilot of integrated foreign currency and domestic currency fund pool business. (Shenzhen Special Zone Daily)

Tianjin Binhai Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone: Subsidies will be provided to blockchain and other platform-based enterprises at a rate not exceeding 30% of the total project investment.

According to the Eastmoney website, Tianjin Binhai Hi-tech Zone recently formulated the "Measures for Promoting High-quality Development of New Economic Services (Interim)" and implementation rules, which pointed out that it supports platform-based enterprises such as virtual reality and blockchain (enterprises whose business scale expands with the growth of users and charge platform service fees), open core applications, content and other platform capabilities, and import users, traffic, interfaces, technology, product promotion and other resources for developers. Subsidies will be given to platform-based enterprises at a rate not exceeding 30% of the total project investment, with a maximum of 10 million yuan for a single project.

Report of the 13th Hangzhou Party Congress: Continue to expand blockchain and other industries and speed up the layout of future industries such as the metaverse

Zhejiang News Hangzhou today released the full text of the "Report of the 13th Party Congress of Hangzhou". The report pointed out that we must be the pioneers of the digital economy. We will unswervingly support the high-quality development of the digital economy, promote the iterative upgrading of the digital economy from focusing on model innovation to focusing on technological innovation, and achieve a digital economy. The core industries account for more than 30% of the added value. We will consolidate traditional advantageous industries, continue to strengthen industries such as digital vision, blockchain, cloud computing, big data, and e-commerce, and always maintain our leading position in the industry. We will comprehensively enhance the hard-core strength of the digital economy, focus on forward-looking strategic industries such as integrated circuits and artificial intelligence, and strive to create a world-leading trillion-level intelligent Internet of Things industry cluster, accumulating new momentum for the second outbreak of the digital economy. We will speed up the layout of future industries such as quantum technology, deep-sea aerospace, and metaverse, and vigorously seize the initiative in the competition of new tracks.

The court ruled that the virtual currency mining agreement was invalid, and the Sichuan Provincial Development and Reform Commission stated that it had cleared several mining farms at the beginning of the year

Recently, the Chaoyang District People's Court of Beijing held a public hearing and pronounced a verdict on a service contract dispute caused by the delay in the return of Bitcoin "mining". After the verdict, the Chaoyang Court of Beijing sent a letter to the Sichuan Provincial Development and Reform Commission to feedback clues about virtual currency "mining" activities involved in the case trial. The Sichuan Provincial Development and Reform Commission replied to the Chaoyang Court, stating that it had demolished a number of virtual currency "mines" in early 2022 and severely cracked down on virtual currency "mining" and trading. In this case, the court held that Fengfu Jiuxin Company and Zhongyan Zhichuang Company signed an agency "mining" agreement when they knew that there were risks in "mining" and Bitcoin transactions, and the relevant departments clearly prohibited Bitcoin-related transactions. This agreement should be invalid, and the related property rights and interests generated by it should not be protected by law. The consequences of the above-mentioned actions should be borne by the parties themselves. (The Paper)

Financial Stability Bureau of the Central Bank: China's share of global Bitcoin trading volume has rapidly dropped from over 90% to 10%

An article published by the Financial Stability Bureau of the central bank pointed out that important results have been achieved in preventing and resolving financial risks since the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. The financial order has been comprehensively cleaned up and rectified. The chaos in Internet finance has been intensively rectified and has entered the stage of normalized supervision. All P2P online lending platforms have withdrawn from operation, and the outstanding loan balance has dropped from the initial 1.2 trillion yuan to 490 billion yuan. The speculation trend of virtual currency transactions in the country has been effectively curbed, and the global share of Bitcoin transactions in China has rapidly dropped from more than 90% to 10%. Severe crackdowns have been made on illegal financial activities such as disorderly financial operations and "driving without a license", and special operations have been launched to combat illegal fund-raising crimes. In the past five years, a total of 25,000 cases of illegal fund-raising have been filed and investigated. All financial businesses of Internet platform companies will be brought under supervision, and business cooperation between licensed institutions and Internet platform companies will be standardized. Financial anti-monopoly and anti-unfair competition will be strengthened to maintain market order. (Official website of the People's Bank of China)

Part 3Technological Innovation

Tencent's blockchain transaction method patent published

According to a report from Cailianshe on March 1, Tianyancha shows that recently, the patent for "blockchain transaction processing method, device, electronic device and readable medium" applied by Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. was published. The abstract shows that the method includes: receiving a transaction request sent by a client; performing a signature operation according to the transaction request and sending a transaction signature to the client; receiving a transaction verification request sent by the client. This method enables the transaction request to reach the blockchain node before the proposal request, reducing the waiting time during the transaction process and improving processing efficiency.

POS Proof of Stake becomes the only blockchain technology selected as one of MIT's "Top Ten Breakthrough Technologies of 2022"

Citing a report from Wall Street News, MIT Technology Review officially released its "Top Ten Breakthrough Technologies in the World" for 2022. Among them, POS proof of stake is among them, and it is the only blockchain technology selected. The article mentioned that proof of stake provides a way to build a network that does not require too much energy. Ethereum has built a new blockchain for the system, and the system has been running in parallel. What needs to happen now is a "merge", transferring the "layer" that actually executes transactions and holds user assets, and abandoning proof of work in the process. If successful, Ethereum's proof-of-stake blockchain can create conditions for widely used energy-saving technologies.

Tencent Virtual Concert Patent Published

The patent for "virtual concert processing method, device, equipment, medium and program product" applied by Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. was announced.

The abstract shows that the application method includes: presenting a concert entrance in the song practice interface of the current object; based on this entrance, receiving a concert creation instruction for the target singer, and then creating a song simulation concert room; collecting the singing content corresponding to the target singer's song and playing it through the concert room. Through this application, a virtual concert of the target singer can be created or held. (Sina Technology)

Part 4 Investment and Financing

FTX launches charitable fund FTX Future Fund, plans to distribute at least $100 million this year

According to official news, FTX announced on Monday the launch of its first charitable fund, FTX Future Fund, which plans to allocate at least $100 million this year and deploy up to $1 billion. FTX said it will be open to a wide range of ideas, with a particular focus on launching large-scale scalable projects. Areas of interest include the safe development of artificial intelligence, reducing catastrophic biological risks, improving institutions, economic growth, relations between major powers, effective altruism, etc. Relevant projects can submit applications before March 21.

According to reports, FTX Future Fund is part of the FTX Foundation, a charitable foundation mainly funded by FTX founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). In addition, Alameda Research co-CEO Caroline Ellison, FTX co-founder and CTO Gary Wang, and FTX engineering director Nishad Singh are all supporters of the foundation.

Carbon neutral blockchain application Nori receives $7 million in Series A funding, led by M13

On March 1, Nori, a blockchain application dedicated to improving carbon neutrality transparency, has received $7 million in Series A funding led by M13, with participation from Toyota Ventures Climate Fund. Nori is a carbon removal market built on Ethereum and Polygon.

South Korea's Ministry of Science, ICT and Innovation announces $185 million investment to build a Metaverse ecosystem

According to Forkast, on February 27, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Technology of South Korea announced an investment of 223.7 billion won (185 million U.S. dollars) to build the country's metaverse ecosystem. The ministry will use its funds to develop a decentralized creator economy, cultivate talents, and support companies that develop VR/AR equipment. Currently, a pan-governmental committee is dealing with issues in the virtual space, such as personal information and intellectual property protection, as well as supervision of illegal activities.

Blockchain storage application ArDrive completes $17.2 million seed round of financing, led by Arweave team

ArDrive, a blockchain-based permanent storage application, has completed a $17.2 million seed round of financing, invested by Arweave Team, Blockchain Capital and Sino Global Capital.

ArDrive currently houses more than 6 million files from around the world, including texts, articles, photos, and videos. While many users trust services such as Dropbox or Google Drive to manage their data, which are potentially vulnerable to data breaches, ArDrive allows users to maintain ownership and control of their data on the Arweave blockchain. ArDrive is currently being used to archive documents related to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. (Decrypt)

Part 5 Industry Application

Xiamen International Trade "Single Window" Financial Blockchain Platform Adds Six More Application Scenarios

According to The Paper, the construction of six application scenarios of the Xiamen International Trade "Single Window" financial blockchain platform, "Enterprise Supply Chain Financing and Bank Loan Purpose Tracking", has been completed and officially put into operation. This is the second upgrade of the application scenarios of the "Single Window" financial blockchain platform by the Xiamen Free Trade Commission after the launch of the country's first "Foreign Exchange Transfer Payment Scenario for Ocean Freight".

Watch brand MRISSTIME will release 10,000 NFT watch products

Recently, MRISSTIME, a global top luxury watch brand, announced that it will release 10,000 NFT watch products and put them on NFT markets such as OpenSea and Rarible for trading. According to reports, MRISSTIME has teamed up with top designers in the industry to create 10,000 unique NFT watch products, and each NFT product has a corresponding physical finished product. According to the plan, the price of each NFT is expected to be 1 ETH. Purchasing NFTs allows owners to get the corresponding physical goods first and give them corresponding discounts. MRISSTIME is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SWISS TIME GROUP. SA, a century-old Swiss watch company. Its brand positioning is technological, fashionable, and luxurious. (China Economic News Network)

Lakala announces the opening of blockchain evidence storage and other services

Lakala announced that it will officially open blockchain evidence storage and other services to the public, and jointly with BlueFocus, the leading Chinese music company Taihe Music, and others, launched the Metaverse and Digital Cultural and Creative Industry Blockchain Alliance "Kunlun Chain", aiming to create a shared, open first-class alliance chain for the industry, provide basic support for different NFT businesses, and integrate basic services such as blockchain, payment, risk control and anti-money laundering, to serve industrial development and accelerate the exploration of a new digital ecosystem. It is reported that the "Kunlun Chain" is built on the basis of Lakala's self-developed enterprise blockchain service platform. Previously, Lakala has been using blockchain technology internally, including payment and credit data on the chain, and has completed tens of millions of transactions. The relevant person in charge said that the formal opening of the interface to the outside world this time has the same service capabilities as Alibaba Ant Chain and Tencent Zhixin Chain. (China Economic Net)

Special focus: Digital currency

Heilongjiang: Actively promote the application for digital RMB pilot

Notice of the General Office of the CPC Heilongjiang Provincial Committee and the General Office of the Heilongjiang Provincial People's Government on the issuance of the "Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the High-Quality Development of the Platform Economy in Heilongjiang Province". The "Opinions" pointed out that they will actively promote Heilongjiang Province to apply for a digital RMB pilot and explore the construction of a digital RMB pilot and the expansion of scenarios. (Official website of the Heilongjiang Provincial People's Government)

IMF: Nigeria's digital currency eNaira could bring new money laundering and terrorist financing risks

According to the China National Radio website on February 22, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) pointed out in a report recently released that as the use of eNaira expands to cross-border fund transfers and agent banking networks, it may trigger new money laundering and terrorist financing risks. Therefore, the IMF recommends that the Central Bank of Nigeria actively respond to the risks brought by eNaira through a layered identity authentication system, strengthening anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing regulations, and strengthening anti-corruption governance.

The third batch of digital RMB pilot cities will be unveiled soon

The reporter learned yesterday that the third batch of digital RMB pilot areas across the country will soon be unveiled. The reporter sorted out the regional economic plans of many places across the country and found that striving to be included in the list of the new batch of digital RMB pilot areas has become a new year goal for many regions.

Since the beginning of the year, Henan, Fujian, Heilongjiang, Chongqing, Guangzhou and other places have clearly proposed to actively strive for the digital RMB pilot. Many industry insiders analyzed that through the previous pilot, the number of digital RMB wallets and the advantages of technology and scenarios have been recognized by the market, and the conditions for further expanding the pilot are now ripe. (Shanghai Securities News)

Beijing will expand the application of digital RMB and deepen the digital RMB pilot

The General Office of the Beijing Municipal People's Government issued a notice on the "Implementation Plan for Building a "Dual Hub" International Consumption Bridgehead (2021-2025)". Beijing will leverage the advantages of the "dual hubs" of the Capital International Airport and Daxing International Airport to focus on building international consumption functional areas and building an international consumption bridgehead. Key tasks include actively expanding the application of digital RMB, encouraging cross-border e-commerce companies to apply new technologies to innovate business models, and providing high-quality international consumer experience. Summarize the experience of building a payment service environment for the Beijing Winter Olympics, deepen the digital RMB pilot, and gradually improve the payment convenience for international passengers. (Capital Window)