Key takeaways:
- Yao Qian, a local pro-blockchain official, is allegedly being investigated by Chinese authorities, who believe she has broken the law.
- Yao continued to be involved in conversations and research related to digital currencies even after leaving the PBoC’s active CBDC development.
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China is reportedly looking into Yao on suspicion of “serious violations” of the law and discipline, according to a report published in the Shanghai Securities News on April 26. The precise rationale behind the inquiry is kept a secret.
Yao, currently the director of the Science and Technology Supervision Bureau at the China Securities Regulatory Commission, is a well-known figure in the Chinese blockchain scene.
The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) appointed him as the inaugural director of the central bank digital currency (CBDC) research department in 2017. He is also known as China’s “Crypto Dad” and held this position from 2017 to 2018.
Yao continued to be involved in conversations and research related to digital currencies even after leaving the PBoC’s active CBDC development.
In May 2021, the former head of CBDC research for the PBoC predicted that state-controlled digital currencies would become more “smart” and eventually function on blockchain networks like Ethereum.
Mainland China became one of the first countries in the world to finish real-world CBDC tests when its digital yuan, or CBDC, was launched in late 2019.
In 2021, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) initiated cross-border CBDC experiments in partnership with the central banks of Hong Kong, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates, shortly after initiating domestic digital yuan testing.
President Xi Jinping of China urged for rapid blockchain adoption in October 2019, which aligns with the country’s “blockchain, not crypto” strategy. This coincides with the launch of PBoC’s digital yuan.
The Chinese government, which has a negative attitude toward the technology, will prohibit all cryptocurrency transactions by 2021.
Hong Kong, a special administrative territory of China, has been actively pursuing cryptocurrency development in recent years despite mainland China’s rejection of the concept.
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong approved the first group of spot Bitcoin and Ether Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) on April 24. When spot Ether ETFs are approved and launched for trading on April 30, Hong Kong will surpass the US in this regard.
