Blockchain Weekly | The central bank reveals three major tricks of exchanges; ETC production reduction, Steem hard fork

Author: PANews

Summary: Ethereum Classic (ETC) officially cuts production; Steem hard forks to form a new community; Russia bans the issuance and circulation of cryptocurrencies; Bitcoin is selected as one of Fortune magazine's "Best Designed Products"; Jihong shares launches "blockchain masks". 14 listed companies disclose blockchain-related businesses or plans.

According to PANews statistics, there were 7 blockchain project financings announced last week, with a total financing amount of US$309 million (excluding projects whose specific investment and financing amounts have not yet been disclosed), involving derivatives exchanges, games, privacy technology, services and other fields.

1. The central bank issued a 315 consumer reminder to beware of the three major tricks of virtual currency exchanges

On the 22nd, the official WeChat account of the central bank released "3.15 Financial Consumer Rights Protection⑧ | Don't be cheated by virtual currency trading platforms". The article pointed out the three current routines of exchanges in the form of cartoons. First, the transaction fraud is serious. The average turnover rate of the top three virtual currency traders abroad is much higher than that of foreign licensed exchanges. There is a major suspicion of using robots to brush the volume. Second, malicious downtime, forcing leveraged transactions to explode. A large virtual currency trading platform had 6 system downtimes in a year, 3 of which were sudden failures due to unknown reasons. Third, money laundering. By analyzing the withdrawal data of a virtual currency trading platform, it was found that it meets the basic characteristics of money laundering.

2. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s new proposal may relax the financing limit for securities tokens

According to Coindesk, earlier this month, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a proposal to revise its fundraising regulations for various early-stage startups. If the revised regulations are passed, the upper limit of securities issuance proceeds under Regulation A+ will be increased from $50 million to $75 million, and the upper limit of proceeds under Regulation CF (crowdfunding) will be increased from $1 million to $5 million.

3. Russian Central Bank Legal Executive: Russian bill will prohibit the issuance and circulation of cryptocurrencies

On March 16, Alexey Guznov, head of the legal department of the Central Bank of Russia, said in an interview that the upcoming but not yet finalized cryptocurrency legislation (a bill on “Digital Financial Assets”) will prohibit the issuance and circulation of cryptocurrencies and will impose fines for violations of the law.

4. The Central Bank of Zimbabwe proposes a regulatory sandbox to review crypto companies

Josephat Mutepfa, deputy director of financial markets and national payment systems at the Central Bank of Zimbabwe, recently said that the RBZ has begun to propose a fintech framework to guide the operation of fintech companies. According to reports, the framework is a regulatory sandbox through which cryptocurrency companies must be reviewed. (Pindula)

5. FCA warns investors not to invest in cryptocurrencies related to the coronavirus

On March 16, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued a warning on its official website, calling on investors not to participate in cryptocurrency investments related to the coronavirus. The document pointed out that as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread around the world, many criminals have begun to take advantage of the opportunity to commit fraud in the form of insurance, pensions and high-return investments, with vulnerable groups being their main targets.

6. Swedish central bank bids to host the Bank for International Settlements’ digital currency research center

Sweden’s central bank (Riksbank) says the country’s digital currency researchers are among the best among central banks. The claim comes as the Riksbank bids on March 3 to host the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub, a new initiative by the “bank of central banks” that now hopes to establish local financial innovation policy clearinghouses around the world, one of the areas of research being central bank digital currencies.

7. Japan will implement a revised bill in April to submit two KYC documents when opening an account at a cryptocurrency exchange

Japan will implement the revised bill on the Law on Preventing the Transfer of Criminal Proceeds (Criminal Proceeds Law) on April 1. Virtual currency exchanges in Japan will strictly check the identity of the person when opening an account. Users will need to submit two types of identity verification (KYC) documents when opening a new account.

8. South Korea’s FSC is working with local crypto companies to launch the Special Financial Information Act

South Korea's Financial Services Commission (FSC) is working with local crypto companies to activate the previously passed Special Financial Information Law. In the near future, companies must register with the South Korean Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). The Special Financial Information Law will officially take effect in March 2021, requiring crypto companies to register with local financial institutions and comply with the guidelines of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

9. The pilot program of the FinTech “regulatory sandbox” will be expanded, and non-licensed financial institutions may be allowed to apply separately

According to the Economic Information Daily, after Beijing took the lead in launching the pilot, the pilot of the financial technology "regulatory sandbox" will soon be implemented in more cities. In the selection of pilot cities, it will cooperate with national strategies such as the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the integration of the Yangtze River Delta, and cities such as Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Xiong'an may be shortlisted. In the next step, the regulatory authorities may allow non-licensed institutions such as financial technology companies that meet certain qualifications to apply for "entry into the box" separately. In addition, supporting regulatory details will also be implemented. Relevant regulatory authorities will issue management measures to standardize a series of management processes such as "entry into the box" and "exit from the box" of pilot projects, improve the project evaluation standards for pilot applications, and optimize risk prevention and control mechanisms.

10. Hawaii government establishes regulatory sandbox for digital currency issuers

According to Theblock on March 19, the Hawaii government announced a regulatory sandbox for digital currency companies on March 17. The state government announced the establishment of a two-year "Digital Currency Innovation Lab", which allows digital currency issuers to operate in Hawaii without a state remittance license, hoping to learn more about digital currencies and their activities during the two-year period, with an eye toward formulating laws.

11. Ministry of Industry and Information Technology: Guide platforms to enhance support capabilities for new technologies such as 5G and blockchain

According to the Information and Communications Administration, the General Office of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a notice on promoting the accelerated development of the industrial Internet, which mentioned that it is necessary to guide the platform to enhance the support capabilities of new technologies such as 5G, artificial intelligence, blockchain, augmented reality/virtual reality, and strengthen the digital function integration of the entire process of design, production, operation and maintenance, and management. Select 10 cross-industry and cross-field platforms and develop 50 key industry/regional platforms. Promote key platforms to support an average of 200 industrial protocols, 800,000 industrial equipment connections, and 2,500 industrial apps.

1. Ethereum crowdfunding platform Gitcoin provides development funds for projects related to fighting the new coronavirus

Ethereum crowdfunding platform Gitcoin has pledged to provide at least $50,000 in development funds for coronavirus-related projects. On March 14, Ethereum crowdfunding platform GitcoinGitcoin tweeted that its fifth round of grants already has $50,000 for "public health" projects. However, it is seeking to reach a minimum goal of $100,000 with the goal of allocating enough funds for multiple efforts.

2. Gansu has built 7 service platforms based on blockchain and other technologies

According to Gansu Daily, Gansu Province has used technologies such as big data and blockchain to build seven professional technical service platforms, including an industrial economic operation monitoring platform and a public service platform for small and medium-sized enterprises, to assist the province's epidemic prevention and control and resumption of work and production.

3. Baidu operation and maintenance personnel illegally controlled 155 servers for "mining": sentenced to three years in prison

From January to July 2018, while working as a server operation and maintenance manager at Baidu, An took advantage of his job as a search server maintenance manager, exceeded his authority, and deployed a "mining" program on Baidu's server by technical means, obtaining virtual currencies such as Bitcoin and Monero by occupying computer information system hardware and network resources. He then sold some of the virtual currencies and made a profit of RMB 100,000. On July 18, 2018, An was arrested by the public security organs and confessed the above-mentioned crime process after he was brought to justice. During the trial of this case, the defendant An returned RMB 111,000, which is now detained.

4. The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) appoints Coinbase executive as COO

On March 17, TheBlock reported that the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) appointed Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Brian Brooks as the next Chief Operating Officer and First Deputy Comptroller General. The term of office will begin on April 1, 2020. Brooks has served as Coinbase's chief legal officer since September 2018, leading its legal, compliance and government relations work.

5. Ethereum Classic (ETC) has reduced production, and the board members of the supporting foundation have resigned

PANews reported on March 17 that according to the data from Tokenview ETC block browser, Ethereum Classic (ETC) has completed the reduction of mining rewards at block height 10,000,000, from the original 4 ETC rewards per block to 3.2 ETC rewards per block. On the same day, James Wo, a member of the board of directors of Ethereum Classic Collective (ECC), announced that he had decided to leave the non-profit research organization focused on the Ethereum Classic network.

6. Kaola.com announced the upgrade of the full-link traceability system for goods, and the introduction of blockchain traceability technology

On March 17, Kaola announced that it would upgrade its full-link traceability system for products. In addition to the original anti-counterfeiting and anti-malicious unpacking technology, it newly introduced blockchain traceability technology to achieve one-click traceability and anti-counterfeiting of products.

7. Ningxia uses blockchain and other technologies to establish a financial services liaison mechanism

Ningxia will establish a financial service liaison mechanism, and plans to select no less than 300 financial service liaisons from financial institutions within the year to serve no less than 1,500 enterprises. Each city, county (district) must also establish a team of no less than 10 financial service liaisons. It is reported that the regional local financial supervision bureau will promote the full coverage of financial liaisons in major projects, commercial complexes, small and medium-sized enterprises and the "three rural" areas, and use cloud computing, blockchain and other technologies to achieve "nanny-style" precise docking with enterprises.

8. Starbucks integrates Bakkt payments for some app users

Starbucks has offered "Bakkt Cash" as a payment method to some users of its mobile app. Bakkt President Adam White announced the integration on Twitter. Starbucks said Bakkt Cash is currently limited to some beta versions. A Starbucks spokesperson said: "We are currently conducting a limited test of customers using Bakkt as a payment method. Customers can consider Bakkt as an option, but the test is only available at this time."

9. Bitcoin was selected as one of Fortune magazine’s “100 Best Designed Products of the Modern Era”

Fortune magazine recently released the list of "The greatest designs of modern times". Bitcoin was selected and ranked 90th. David Kelley, founder of IDEO, commented on Bitcoin's selection: Bitcoin is designed to allow a wide range of stakeholders - developers, investors, companies, miners, and individuals - to adopt a new digital currency under an incentive mechanism without the need for any centralized issuer or management agency.

10. ETH miners use 6,000 computers’ chip processing power to find a coronavirus treatment

CoreWeave, the largest U.S. miner on the Ethereum blockchain, is redirecting the chip processing power of 6,000 specialized computers toward research into finding treatments for the coronavirus. The GPUs will help Stanford University’s Folding@home, a long-term research effort that launched on Feb. 27 to advance coronavirus research through a unique approach to drug development.

$112M in MakerDAO Debt to be Cleared as Auction Enters Final Phase

As the first phase of the MakerDAO debt auction enters its final stages, bidders have committed to purchase a total of $2 million in Maker (MKR) tokens. Most of the current winning bids were made around 1:25 a.m. ET on March 20, so unless more bids are in, most lots will be sold by around 7:25 a.m. ET. The second batch of lots is expected to be available on March 22.

12. CME Group's clearing company reportedly auctioned off liquidated assets

According to CNBC, CME was forced to intervene and use emergency regulations to auction off the assets of Ronin Capital, a Chicago-based clearing company, because the capital of Ronin Capital, a CME-affiliated clearing company, failed to meet regulatory requirements.

13.Steem community has successfully hard forked and created a new chain Hive

According to previous news, Dan Notestein, founder of Blocktrade, a leading validator on the Steem blockchain, said that the Steem community will hard fork Steem to completely separate the Tron Foundation from it. Steemit's blockchain for blogs, Steem, will also be transferred to Hive.io. In terms of Steem token supply, developers will capture a snapshot of all wallets at a certain block and then distribute the same amount of tokens to all wallets on the new chain. In addition to the Steemit wallet controlled by the Tron Foundation, everyone who has tokens on Steem will have tokens on the new chain.

1. Wintime: The holding subsidiary has completed the registration of a number of blockchain practical products, patents, software copyrights, etc.

Yingshisheng (300377) stated in response to investors' questions on the interactive platform that the company's controlled blockchain technology service company, Lianshi Technology, insists on both technology and scenarios, and has completed the registration of many practical products, patents, software copyrights, etc. The standards drafted by it as a member unit of the Blockchain Standards Committee have been released.

2. Shenzhen Stock Exchange requires Jingu to disclose its blockchain business and equity participation

On March 16, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange once again issued a letter of concern to Jingu Co., Ltd. (002488.SZ), which pointed out that Jingu Co., Ltd. had repeatedly introduced the development of blockchain and digital currency business of its joint venture Beijing Ciyun Tangquan Financial Technology Co., Ltd. The company should explain the proportion of its shareholding in the joint venture, the specific impact of the joint venture on the company's performance, and whether the company has fulfilled the review procedures and information disclosure obligations for the above investment matters and related progress.

3. Kelan Software: Research in the blockchain field is mainly focused on application areas

In response to investors' questions, KeLan Software (300663.SZ) stated that the company's blockchain technology applications have related cooperation units, including national-level ones such as the Trusted Blockchain Alliance under the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, as well as leading Internet companies such as Ant and Tencent Cloud, and professional technology companies such as Bubi.

4. Jihong shares launched "blockchain mask"

On March 16, the "disposable medical mask" of Tianjin Changrong Health Technology Co., Ltd., a company in which Jihong Co., Ltd. (002803.SZ) holds a stake, obtained the "Medical Device Registration Certificate" approved and issued by the Tianjin Food and Drug Administration.

5. Chuanhua Zhilian: The company is involved in blockchain and other technologies in the development of intelligent systems

In response to investors' questions, Chuanhao Zhilian (002010.SZ) stated that the company's current technological exploration in the research and development of intelligent systems includes industrial Internet platform construction, 5G technology application in the logistics field, Internet of Things technology application, and blockchain technology application.

6. Huali Chuangtong: The company participated in the establishment of the East Lake Financial Research Institute to conduct research related to digital currency

Huali Technology (300045.SZ) stated in response to investors' questions on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange-Interactive Easy that the East Lake Financial Research Institute, in which the company has a stake, is involved in research in areas related to digital currency.

7. Kelan Software: The company's main business is still to provide research and development and services for blockchain and other products

When answering investors' questions on the interactive platform, KeLan Software (300663) stated: The newly added human resources services to the company's business scope are not the development of human resources software; the company's main business is still to provide research and development and services for financial technology products such as Internet financial software products, database products, and blockchain products, and it is just supplementing the corresponding IT technology human resources investment and service scope.

8. Jingu shares: The company's blockchain business has not generated any revenue

On the evening of March 18, Jingu Holdings (002488.SZ) stated in its reply to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange's letter of concern that the company's connection with Tesla through ThyssenKrupp is still in progress and there is no final result yet; the company's blockchain business, hydrogen energy business, and unmanned driving business have not generated any revenue; and there has been no benefits in the application of cutting-edge technologies such as 5G, Internet of Vehicles, and IoT with Didi's subsidiaries.

9. Dr. Peng invested 30 million yuan to establish a new company, whose business scope involves blockchain

According to Qichacha data, on March 16, listed company Pengbo Telecom Media Group Co., Ltd. (600804.SH) and Lanzhou Hongyu Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. jointly invested in the establishment of Pengbo (Gansu) Industrial Internet Technology Co., Ltd., whose business scope includes Internet data services; data processing and storage services; and technology development in the fields of Internet, Internet of Things, sensor networks, cloud computing, big data, 5G, blockchain, etc.

10. China Construction Engineering: The company's blockchain technology platform has the conditions for substantive operation

China Construction Engineering (002822.SZ) responded to investors on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange-Interactive Easy, saying that financial institutions have issued the first batch of loans through the company's blockchain technology platform, and all have been successfully completed. The company's blockchain technology platform has the conditions for substantive operation.

11. Agricultural products: Currently, blockchain is one of the tools used by enterprises to solve business problems

Agricultural Products (000061.SZ) stated on the interactive platform that its shareholding company, China Agricultural Network, mainly focuses on the B2B vertical field of agricultural products.

12. Yuanguang Software: In 2020, it will continue to promote the research and development of blockchain and other technology applications

Yuanguang Software (002063.SZ) responded to investors' questions on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange-Interactive Easy and stated that in 2020, in terms of research and development, the company will continue to follow the pace of large-scale development of the energy Internet, based on distributed system construction strategies, carry out microservice transformation, promote platform integration, and innovate middle-office services, and continue to promote the research and development of big data, blockchain and artificial intelligence technology applications.

13. Sifang Jingchuang: Actively invest in the research and development and cooperation of blockchain and other technologies in the financial field

Sifang Jingchuang (300468.SZ) responded to investors' questions on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange-Interactive Easy and stated that in recent years, the company has actively invested in innovative research and development and cooperation in the application of blockchain, cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence and other technologies in the financial field, and gradually realized the business transformation of product + service and platform + service.

14. Haoyun Technology: The company cooperates with Guangzhou University to explore the application of blockchain in financial Internet of Things and other fields

Haoyun Technology (300448.SZ) stated in response to investors' questions on the interactive platform that the company and Guangzhou University have jointly built a public security intelligent laboratory to explore the application of blockchain technology in smart justice, financial Internet of Things and other business areas.

1. Bakkt raises $300 million in Series B funding, with Microsoft and Pantera participating in the investment

Bakkt has raised $300 million in a new funding round from investors including Intercontinental Exchange, Microsoft’s M12, Goldfinch Partners and Pantera Capital, and launched a newly designed website.

2. Inspur Cloud completed its Pre-IPO C round of financing and released the Inspur Cloud Code platform using blockchain computing

On March 17, Inspur Cloud officially announced the completion of its Pre-IPO C round of financing, which is the last round of financing before listing, and will start applying for listing at an appropriate time this year.

3. Blockchain technology platform FundsDLT completes Series A financing, Credit Suisse participates

FundsDLT, a blockchain technology platform initiated and incubated by the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and its subsidiary Fundsquare, announced that it has completed its Series A financing.

4. Blockchain-related company Wei Technology announced that it has completed its Series A financing

Recently, the big data privacy computing platform company Wei Technology announced that it has completed a round A financing of tens of millions of RMB. This round of financing was exclusively invested by Qiming Venture Partners.

5. Gaming platform The Sandbox raises $2.01 million, with Square Enix and others participating

Gaming platform The Sandbox has received $2.01 million in cash and cryptocurrency to build its blockchain gaming world. The company raised the funds in the third quarter of last year under the name of Animoca Brands subsidiary TSB Gaming and will report them where regulatory authorities allow. Investors include Square Enix, B Cryptos and True Global Ventures.

6. Billon Group, an enterprise DLT company, completes over $6 million in Series A funding

Billon Group, an enterprise DLT company, announced that it has completed its Series A funding round, issuing more than $6 million in equity to existing and new investors. Investors in this round include FIS, Rising Tide, Mencey Capital, VCF III, existing investors, and well-known international managers and experts.

7.Blockchain database platform Fluree completes seed round expansion financing, Engage participates in the investment

North Carolina blockchain startup Fluree has completed an extension round of seed financing, with investors including Engage, but the specific amount was not disclosed.