China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) project has reached the mark of 100.04 billion yuan (close to $14 billion) of made transactions during its pilot phase. It makes digital yuan, the e-CNY, the most widely adopted CBDC in the world. As the Bank of China reported in the post on its official WeChat page on Oct. 10, by the end of the summer, the number of transactions made in 15 provinces within the CBDC pilot framework had reached 360 million. More than 5.6 million merchant stores already support the digital yuan as a legal tender, according to the post. The …

A multi-jurisdictional Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) pilot has been marked “successful” by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) after a month-long test phase that facilitated $22 million worth of real-value cross-border transactions. The central banks of Hong Kong, Thailand, China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) took part in the pilot program along with 20 commercial banks from those regions. More than $12 million worth of value was issued onto the test platform, which facilitated 164 foreign exchange transactions and cross-border payments between the participating firms totaling over $22 million worth of value according to a Tuesday LinkedIn post …

Russia is in the pilot phase of its central bank digital currency development (CBDC), and new reports indicate that the country could use its national digital currency to settle international trade. According to a report published in Reuters, Russia is reportedly planning to use the digital rouble for mutual settlements with China by next year. The digital rouble is currently being tested for settling with the banks and is expected to be completed by early next year. The United States Treasury Department added 22 individuals and two Russia-based entities to the sanction list in the third week of September. With …

The electricity mix of Bitcoin (BTC) has drastically changed over the past few years, with nuclear energy and natural gas becoming the fastest growing energy sources powering Bitcoin mining, according to new data. The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) on Tuesday released a major update to its Bitcoin mining-dedicated data source, the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI). According to the data from Cambridge, fossil fuels like coal and natural gas made up almost two-thirds of Bitcoin’s total electricity mix as of January 2022, accounting for more than 62%. As such, the share of sustainable energy sources in the …

As the Ethereum network’s move to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism drives adoption from institutional investors, the prices for graphics processing units (GPUs), often used for mining cryptocurrencies like Ether (ETH), have gone down in China. Following the historic Ethereum Merge on Sept. 15, the previously highly sought-out Nvidia GeForce GPUs have become significantly cheaper according to a report by the South China Morning Post. Peng, a Chinese merchant, gave the RTX 3080 as an example as the GPU’s price dropped from 8,000 yuan (1118 USD) to 5,000 yuan within 3 months. According to Peng, when Bitcoin (BTC) mining was …

China accounts for 84% of all blockchain applications filed worldwide, according to the latest data shared by the country’s government official. China has steered clear of the cryptocurrency market. However, the Beijing government has been supportive of the underlying blockchain technology. The country has actively promoted the use of blockchain tech over the years, and thus the high percentage of blockchain patents isn’t surprising. President Xi Jinping has also played a key role in promoting the nascent blockchain technology. In 2019, the President called upon citizens, tech companies and stakeholders of the ecosystem to actively participate and innovate with the …

The People’s Bank of China, or PBoC, will reportedly expand deployment of its central bank digital currency, the e-CNY, to four of the country’s provinces, including Guangdong. According to a Tuesday report from the South China Morning Post, PBoC deputy governor Fan Yifei said at an event in Suzhou that the bank would be rolling out e-CNY trials to the provinces of Guangdong, Jiangsu, Hebei and Sichuan. With a combined population of more than 360 million people, the reported move would be a marked expansion of the central bank’s CBDC plans, which has been largely limited to individual cities, merchants, …

Presently, there seems to be a general assumption that when the U.S. dollar value increases against other global major currencies, as measured by the DXY index, the impact on Bitcoin (BTC) is negative. Traders and influencers have been issuing alerts about this inverse correlation, and how the eventual reversal of the movement would likely push Bitcoin price higher. Analyst @CryptoBullGems recently reviewed how the DXY index looks overbought after its relative strength index (RSI) passed 78 and could be the start of a retrace for the dollar index. This is literally the only thing you need to look at: The …

Despite enforcing a major cryptocurrency ban one year ago, the Chinese government still protects local crypto investors as crypto is recognized as virtual property protected by the law. One of the world’s most hostile countries toward Bitcoin (BTC), China has not yet banned the possession of cryptocurrencies, according to David Lesperance, founder of Lesperance & Associates law firm. Crypto holders in China are protected by the law in case of theft, misappropriation or breach of a loan agreement, Lesperance told Cointelegraph. He emphasized that crypto exchanges are still banned in China. The lawyer referred to a recent Chinese court case …

Blockchain-focused incubator and adviser PANONY has closed a Series A funding round backed by NGC Ventures, one of Asia’s largest crypto investment firms, putting the company on track to expand its portfolio and geographic presence. Although funding terms weren’t disclosed, the Series A gave PANONY a valuation of $100 million, the company reported Monday. The Hong Kong-based PANONY said it would use the funds to expand into other jurisdictions, launch new service offerings and expand its networking capabilities. Founded in 2018 by Alyssa Tsai and Tongtong Bee, PANONY invests in blockchain- and Web3-focused startups and offers ongoing advisory and business …

Let's rewind the tape to the end of 2021 when Bitcoin (BTC) was trading near $47,000, which at the time was 32% lower than the all-time high. During that time, the tech-heavy Nasdaq stock market index held 15,650 points, just 3% below its highest ever mark. Comparing the Nasdaq's 75% gain between 2021 and 2022 to Bitcoin's 544% positive move, one could assume that an eventual correction caused by macroeconomic tensions or a major crisis, would lead to Bitcoin’s price being disproportionately impacted than stocks. Eventually, these “macroeconomic tensions and crises” did occur and Bitcoin price plunging another 57% to …

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has hit back at critics and conspiracy theorists who claim Binance to be a Chinese-based “criminal entity” that “secretly [belongs] in the pocket of the Chinese government.” CZ's response to critics came from a Sept. 1 blog post via Binance, and stems from a Twitter spat with a former Washington Post journalist who asked him; “While I have you here, who's Guangying Chen?” He explained that the question is in reference to a conspiracy theory alleging that his personal friend and Chinese national Guangying Chen is the secret owner of Bijie Tech (a company he …