Where are they now?: More than a year after the ICO ban, China is a world leader in blockchain technologies

Since the winter boom of 2017, blockchain and cryptocurrencies have been catapulted into the global discourse like never before; whether it was the very capitalized crypto-market capitalization, or the newly funded blockchain start-up race that advanced the frontiers of the vibrant industry, it became clear that it was not "Fashion".

Take and choose

Instead, technology became a topic of discussion for governments, having repeatedly demonstrated its practicality in the real world, revealing great promises above the noise of the digital token market. This brought the attention of regulation firmly within the framework, it was an inevitability that the pro-crypto-community did not want to deal with, but that the blockchain industry needed to deal with.

The cryptocurrencies and the first offers of coins are forever an integral part of the blockchain sector, and because one can exist, the other must be; therefore, governments, legislators and regulators have taken numerous and nuanced steps to adapt to technology or at least parts of it.

In this first of a series focused on three-part regulations, BTCManager will examine different countries and their cryptographic perspectives past, present and future. To begin with, we will take a look at China, a nation where Ico and crypto-traders do not dare step on.

Selective adoption

China was notoriously one of the earliest and most harsh critiques of cryptocurrencies and initial offers of coins (OIC).

When it ICOs banished at the end of 2017nobody knew what this meant for the future of industry and of course for the market cry. Although to everyone's surprise, China quickly established itself as a bull of global blockchain and has massively invested and collected blockchain technology for huge projects in many of its sectors.

In March 2013, the governor of the country's bank announced that China does not recognize cryptocurrencies as legal tender or as a viable retail payment option. In the winter of 2013, China had its teeth again, and banned banks as well as payment companies from engaging with bitcoin as a currency. In December of the same year, the government released a circular which officially considered bitcoin a "virtual good".

Crypto-Calamity

From that moment on, China was relatively quiet about cryptic regulations; this is obviously up to a fateful day (September 4, 2017) when the government implemented a total ban on ICOs, which was introduced as a means of protecting investors and containing financial risk.

As with the ban, ICOs in China also had to return symbolic assets to their investors.

The People's Bank of China (PBoC) declared his intentions develop a state-supported digital currency in January 2016. Otherwise known as the central bank's digital currency (CBDC), October 2017 saw reports that revealed that the PBoC had successfully dragged a CBDC prototype that uses generalized accounting (DLT) technology.

The cryptocurrency exchanges have also been severely hit by the spread of new rules, including Huobi, which at the time ceased trading, packed and moved operations to Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea. The new rules meant that it was illegal for Chinese Mainlands to trade cryptocurrencies unless they operated offshore. Huobi then managed to seize this opportunity and become a giant, with a volume of trade that currently places him in fourth place globally according to CoinMarketCap.

Li Huo, CEO of Huobi Capital, spoke at the Dezentral summit in Berlin, Germany, where he married optimistic views on the future of technology in China, which feverishly adopted blockchain technologies after patent.

Block by Block

While it does not have the greatest experience with the monetary aspect of the blockchain, China has invested money in the development of technology for practical purposes, using it prevent tax evasion, update payment systems to the main ports, e verify the tests. It is expected that China will be a boss in the blockchain field according to a study led by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

In July 2018, it was reported that the capital of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing, would have invested $ 1.48 billion in blockchain technology in an effort to promote national projects. In the same period, the city of Hangzhou also received an investment of $ 1.6 billion that has already opened an industrial park for blockchain startups. In addition, the "mega-city" candidate Xiong & # 39; an New Area collaborated with the blockchain development company ConsenSys in the offer to build a "City of dreams".

Next year

Perhaps by keeping the cryptocurrencies and ICOs out of the equation, China has been able to apply a broad focus in the development of blockchain technology at the industrial, private and public levels.

Looking to 2019, it is hard to say whether cryptocurrencies will have a place in China or not, even if plans to introduce a CBDC are well underway. In December it was reported that what may have been the last chance for this aspect of technology to exist in China has been abandoned. Security token offers (STO) recently the hammer of the central bank fell on them with the PBoC stating that even the "alternative" fundraising method is illegal.

Regardless of the cryptocurrency and related activities, the government is continuing and, in 2019, "standard blockchain"It is expected to be published by a state-owned organization, guidelines out of which one can think that national industry can flourish.