China Financial News

Beijing’s crackdown on crypto continued with the start of the new year as Chinese police froze nearly 6 million yuan ($1 million) worth of crypto and arrested eight people involved with it. 

The story of the IreneDAO NFT craze started in October when 28-year-old Chinese crypto influencer and model Yuqing Irene Zhao came up with the idea for “So-Col” with her business partner, Benjamin Tang.

Malaysia has joined the growing cadre of nations that are exploring the value of researching and developing a central bank digital currency (CBDC).

HONG KONG—Last year, Chinese policy makers shook up the world’s second-largest economy just as its rebound from the pandemic was starting to wear off, unleashing a flurry of measures to address longer-term economic imbalances—and delivering a short-term hit to business activity.

BEIJING—China’s economy expanded 8.1% last year as a pandemic-plagued world snapped up its goods, though slowing growth in the final months of the year points to challenges ahead for its economy.

More than half a million French people will find their vaccination health pass no longer works from Saturday, after the government introduced new rules making a third booster jab obligatory for adults for the pass to be valid.

Following the announcement that Facebook’s parent company would be rebranding in a shift towards the Metaverse, many projects have started similar initiatives entering the virtual space, from buying property to testing the limits of what this universe has to offer. 

January 2022 continues to be rough for crypto investors as current markets see turbulent fluctuations in the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Some have attributed the slump to recent federal intentions to introduce new rate hikes, and the political turmoil in Kazakhstan which significantly lowered the hash rate of bitcoin. On Jan. 14, the price of Bitcoin dipped below $42,000 as traders continued to hold out hope for bullish signals. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has invited Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin to meet with him amid tensions with Russia along the border, one of his close advisers said Friday.

Transcripts released by the Federal Reserve on Friday revealed the extent of officials’ 2016 debate over how fast to move up interest rates after lifting them from near zero at the end of the previous year.

A former member of the Tongan Parliament is behind a proposal to make Bitcoin (BTC) legal tender in the tiny Pacific nation of Tonga, following in the footsteps of El Salvador. It’s due for a vote in Parliament in May and the early signs are encouraging.

Disclaimer: The text below is a press release that was not written by Cryptonews.com.

FRANKFURT—Germany’s economy hit the brakes at the end of last year as the export powerhouse was slammed by global supply-chain bottlenecks, surging material prices and weakness in its biggest trading partner, China.

On Monday, UK Parliament launched a cross-party group of MPs and Lords to cover the crypto and digital assets sector. The group is to act as a forum for parliamentarians, policymakers and the UK crypto sector to discuss policy and regulation in the industry. The news followed last week’s announcement that the New York State Department of Financial Services appointed former Promontory executive Peter Marton as deputy superintendent of virtual currency. Marton commented that “Crypto supervision should be a marathon and not a sprint, and I look forward to continue this effort in earnest.” Fed Chairman Jerome Powell also stoked excitement on Tuesday, stating that a highly anticipated report on cryptocurrencies and CBDCs will be released “within weeks” (though originally scheduled for a September 2021 release). Powell made the statement during a Senate Committee hearing, where Senator Pat Toomey also questioned whether the Fed has authority to act as a retail bank for Americans, asking: “It seems to me that there is absolutely nothing in the history, the experience, the expertise, the capabilities of the Fed that lends the Fed to being a retail bank. Is that a fair observation?” Powell responded: “I would say, yes.” Having previously stated that a CBDC would render privately issued stablecoins to become obsolete, he also told Toomey during the hearing that it is possible the two could co-exist.

Stablecoin issuer Tether (USDT) froze three addresses on Ethereum (ETH), which together hold USD 160m worth of assets.

BEIJING — China's exports grew slightly more than expected in December, while imports rose less than expected, according to customs data released Friday.

At her confirmation hearing in front of members of the Senate Banking Committee, Federal Reserve board of governors member Lael Brainard said Congress would ultimately have to decide to move forward with a central bank digital currency, or CBDC.

Fidelity Digital Assets — the crypto wing of Fidelity Investments which has $4.2 trillion assets under management–shared their “two sats” on the future of the digital assets space. The key takeaways touched upon miners’ behavior and Bitcoin (BTC) network adoption. 

The holding company behind DeCurret, the Japan-based company offering trading and exchanges of digital assets, reportedly plans to sell its crypto business to investment platform Amber Group.

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Blockchain investment firm CoinFund has appointed former United States commodities regulator J. Christopher Giancarlo as a strategic adviser — a move that should help the Brooklyn-based company navigate the complex, ever-changing regulatory requirements in its home country.