Asia Pacific
Welcome to our weekly roundup of all important blockchain and cryptocurrency news from around the world. Follow the latest developments in the cryptocurrency space continent by continent, country by country.
Japan
14% of Japan’s young male workforce invest in cryptocurrencies: According to a recent study by Shin R25, more than 14% of Japan’s young male employees in the age bracket of 25-30 regularly invest in cryptocurrencies. Out of these young enthusiasts, 92% got into it because it was a good investment while 37.4%invested because it was a “trend” and around 20% said they got into it because of media and investor acquaintances. Regarding future investment, around 45% were of the opinion that they would invest again in the future while 35% didn’t want to invest again because of sharply declining prices in the near-term. Japan continues to be a strong hub of investment in cryptocurrencies particularly Asian origin NEO and NEM coins.
Japan’s central bank encourages people to “try” cryptocurrencies: In a bold move, Japan’s central bank’s financial services information head Masashi in a Q&A summary called “Lets think about cryptocurrencies” has called for the public to at least try cryptocurrencies in the future.
The official statement said: “To that end, it is important to actually try it in the world. There is reason to believe that [its maturity] will allow us to use existing cryptocurrencies, accumulate use cases and promote further technical development.”.
Japanese online broker bids for cryptocurrency exchange: Japanese cryptocurrency broker Monex is considering buying CoinCheck, a cryptocurrency exchange that suffered a high-profile hack back in January according to recent reports. Bitcoin’s price index actually experienced a significant increase in the following days following this positive news from the Land of the Rising Sun and rose above USD 7,400 after the news was aired as it would have given the embattled exchange another lifeline.
Chinese national arrested for cryptocurrency fraud: Japanese police revealed last Tuesday that they had arrested a Chinese citizen from Tokyo after the said person was caught selling client accounts in cryptocurrency exchanges that he had opened to a gang of criminals. The man, named by reports as Lin Xiaolin, had been living in Tokyo for a while. He has so far denied these allegations and could be trialled later on. When the cryptocurrency boom was at its peak, many cryptocurrency exchanges closed their doors to new investors because of scalability and security issues. Because of the demand, it was somewhat common to see people looking to buy existing cryptocurrency exchange accounts that were sitting idle or with negligible activity.
South Korea
Seoul to launch its own cryptocurrency: News from Seoul, the capital of South Korea, has confirmed earlier reports that the city administration is aiming to launch its own cryptocurrency called the S-Coin. The coin will be used for social benefits programs according to the mayor Park Won-soon and it will launch soon according to an interview with Coindesk Korea.
Won-Soon said: “As Seoul is the world’s leading city in the field of information and communications, including the Fourth Industrial Revolution, I think we should study new technologies such as blockchains.”.
Blockchain technology will potentially be used for a wide range of government administrative processes in South Korea.
Cryptocurrency exchanges promise market cleanup: Cryptocurrency exchanges operating from South Korea have called for a “healthier” market trend. The exchanges Gopax, Coinone and Korbit, one of the biggest in the country collectively declared this during the Deconomy conference in Seoul last Tuesday.
Exchange executives in lockup in embezzlement probe: South Korean authorities on cyber crime have arrested four executives from two cryptocurrency exchanges CoinNest and and another unnamed one on charges of embezzlement of customer funds.
According to a Reuters report, the prosecutors’ office alleged: “They are being questioned about the embezzlement of billions of won (tens of millions of dollars) from their clients’ accounts and transferring it to their own”.
China
Crypto mining company posing threat to AMD and Nvidia: Cryptocurrency Mining hardware is going to face increased competition in the future as US chipmakers AMD and Nvidia will be tested by Chinese hardware company Bitmain Technologies Ltd based in Beijing. The Chinese company just started sales of its powerful Ethereum mining hardware and will look to build on that and challenge the hegemony of AMD and Nvidia in GPU mining.
China likely to follow global cryptocurrency regulations: China will likely support a consensus-based global cryptocurrency regulatory framework according to a recent insight by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC). The move comes after recent investments in blockchain technology by the Chinese government and impending release of the first government-backed cryptocurrency in the country.
China’s government cryptocurrency gathering momentum: A group of Shanghai reporters got a rare look inside the secret project by the Chinese government to introduce a new state-backed cryptocurrency in the market. The reporters were allowed access into Bank of China Credit Card Development Ltd in Hanghzhou. However, the bank also doubled down on not recognizing other cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin or Ethereum.
India
Cryptocurrency purchases banned: Reserve Bank of India has banned cryptocurrency purchases from local fiat bank accounts according to latest sweeping measure in the South Asia country.
According to an RBI statement:
“Reserve Bank has repeatedly cautioned users, holders and traders of virtual currencies, including Bitcoins, regarding various risks associated in dealing with such virtual currencies. In view of the associated risks, it has been decided that, with immediate effect, entities regulated by RBI shall not deal with or provide services to any individual or business entities dealing with or settling VCs. Regulated entities which already provide such services shall exit the relationship within a specified time.”
Malaysia
Malaysian airlines open to cryptocurrencies: According to news from The Sun Daily, Malaysian Airlines is open to new digital initiatives to enhance customer experience and would be open to a cryptocurrency payment option.
Australia
New crypto exchange regulation enforced: Effective from 3 April, the Australian government has levied new Anti-Money-Laundering (AML) rules for cryptocurrency exchanges, according to confirmed reports from the Australian government. The move comes after a sharp rise in cryptocurrency related scams in the region. Failure to abide by these new regulations will risk appropriate punishment from the courts but a six-month grace period is also given to the exchanges to catch up to these new rules.
The post Asia Pacific: Crypto and Blockchain News Roundup, 27th March to 5th April 2018 appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.