Welcome to The Daily Forkast, September 17th, 2021, presented by Angie Lau. For the latest in blockchain & crypto news. On today's show:
00:00 Coming Up
00:34South Korea crypto exchanges face strict new regulations in just 7 days
02:49 E-CNY launch in final stretch
04:18 On the ground in El Salvador as Bitcoin is put to the test
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In South Korea, except all but four exchanges have yet to fulfill new regulatory requirements as the September 24th deadline quickly approaches. Noncompliance means exchanges need to shut down. Many are now desperately calling for an extension of the grace period, but authorities say those exchanges must announce their closure by tonight. South Korea's Financial Services Commission has laid down the law, but only four of Korea's largest crypto exchanges, Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone and Korbit have managed to comply with just a week left. There are two requirements obtaining the Information Security Management System certification and partnering with a local bank to provide users with bank accounts under their real names. Exchanges that fail to meet both the criteria will be shut down, while those that have acquired the ISMS but not the bank contract, must operate after wiping out their cash-to-crypto functions. The government mandates that the exchanges notify their users seven days prior to closure, which is today. 35 exchanges haven't secured the information security certification and will perish next week. That's more than half the total number of exchanges in the country. 24 exchanges that only managed the certification will operate as token-to-token services from Sep. 24. Foblgate, Bitcmon, Coredex and Flybit have already announced the closure of their Korean won-to-crypto markets. One expert believes the likelihood of these 24 exchanges to complete the bank contract requirement is less than 10%. "[For one thing], there isn’t much time. And secondly, [the banks] have criminal and civil liabilities [for partner exchanges]. So they are being very careful in reviewing partnerships." Kim adds considerable damage is expected from this mass closure, but that it is a necessary passage for the industry to move forward.
Meanwhile, in China, Fan Yifeng, deputy governor of the Chinese central bank, said that the E-CNY pilot preparation of the Winter Olympics is in the sprint stage. He said that in a journey to investigate the progress of the E-CNY Winter Olympics pilot earlier this week, the 24th Winter Olympic Games will be held in Beijing and Zhangjiakou on February 4th 2022. With tens of thousands of participants from various countries, E-CNY will undergo the first crucial international test. However, in July, some U.S. senators urged American athletes to boycott digital yuan at the games, citing privacy concerns. According to the E-CNY white paper released by the People's Bank of China, non-Chinese travelers can use the CBDC in small amounts while remaining anonymous. Vending machines, vending cards, and unmanned supermarkets that support digital RMB payments will be present in the Olympic Park. Currently, China has issued 18 batches of digital Renmenbi red envelopes with a total value of over US$43 million in nine cities across the country to promote the adoption of the digital yuan.
El Salvador has seen a rocky start to its first week of having Bitcoin as legal tender. First country in the world to do so is saw a 15% crash in the Bitcoin market just hours after launch, technical problems plaguing the country's digital wallets and widespread demonstrations against the government and the adoption all taking place within a week's time. Alex Shipp, Chief Strategy Officer of a private, decentralized finance platform Offshift was on the ground when BTC became legal currency. He says that an outsider may think the adoption is going smoothly and there is a significant uptake across the country. But from what he saw, that's not the case. "Almost no one uses Bitcoin. Very few people know really what it is. So, yeah, there's quite a lot to be said." Shipp found that most of the bitcoin adoption in the country is occurring in a small coastal town of only about 3,000 people named El Zonte - or as it's known in the crypto industry, Bitcoin Beach. Outside of that, even in the capital of San Salvador, finding a Bitcoin user isn't easy he says. On Wednesday, the nation marked its bicentennial. Celebrations were marked by more protests against the government, including adopting Bitcoin as a legal currency. "Part of what's happened is that the government coming in and enforcing some kind of legal tender law are you doing something more or less authoritarian?" Ship says that is making a lot of people who don't really know much about Bitcoin turn against it before they're even educated on it.
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#Crypto #Blockchain #BlockchainTechnology #DigitalAssets #Cryptocurrency #DeFi #ElSalvador #Bitcoin #SouthKorea #ECNY #CBDC #DigitalYuan #CryptoExchange #China #Beijing2022
00:00 Coming Up
00:34South Korea crypto exchanges face strict new regulations in just 7 days
02:49 E-CNY launch in final stretch
04:18 On the ground in El Salvador as Bitcoin is put to the test
---
In South Korea, except all but four exchanges have yet to fulfill new regulatory requirements as the September 24th deadline quickly approaches. Noncompliance means exchanges need to shut down. Many are now desperately calling for an extension of the grace period, but authorities say those exchanges must announce their closure by tonight. South Korea's Financial Services Commission has laid down the law, but only four of Korea's largest crypto exchanges, Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone and Korbit have managed to comply with just a week left. There are two requirements obtaining the Information Security Management System certification and partnering with a local bank to provide users with bank accounts under their real names. Exchanges that fail to meet both the criteria will be shut down, while those that have acquired the ISMS but not the bank contract, must operate after wiping out their cash-to-crypto functions. The government mandates that the exchanges notify their users seven days prior to closure, which is today. 35 exchanges haven't secured the information security certification and will perish next week. That's more than half the total number of exchanges in the country. 24 exchanges that only managed the certification will operate as token-to-token services from Sep. 24. Foblgate, Bitcmon, Coredex and Flybit have already announced the closure of their Korean won-to-crypto markets. One expert believes the likelihood of these 24 exchanges to complete the bank contract requirement is less than 10%. "[For one thing], there isn’t much time. And secondly, [the banks] have criminal and civil liabilities [for partner exchanges]. So they are being very careful in reviewing partnerships." Kim adds considerable damage is expected from this mass closure, but that it is a necessary passage for the industry to move forward.
Meanwhile, in China, Fan Yifeng, deputy governor of the Chinese central bank, said that the E-CNY pilot preparation of the Winter Olympics is in the sprint stage. He said that in a journey to investigate the progress of the E-CNY Winter Olympics pilot earlier this week, the 24th Winter Olympic Games will be held in Beijing and Zhangjiakou on February 4th 2022. With tens of thousands of participants from various countries, E-CNY will undergo the first crucial international test. However, in July, some U.S. senators urged American athletes to boycott digital yuan at the games, citing privacy concerns. According to the E-CNY white paper released by the People's Bank of China, non-Chinese travelers can use the CBDC in small amounts while remaining anonymous. Vending machines, vending cards, and unmanned supermarkets that support digital RMB payments will be present in the Olympic Park. Currently, China has issued 18 batches of digital Renmenbi red envelopes with a total value of over US$43 million in nine cities across the country to promote the adoption of the digital yuan.
El Salvador has seen a rocky start to its first week of having Bitcoin as legal tender. First country in the world to do so is saw a 15% crash in the Bitcoin market just hours after launch, technical problems plaguing the country's digital wallets and widespread demonstrations against the government and the adoption all taking place within a week's time. Alex Shipp, Chief Strategy Officer of a private, decentralized finance platform Offshift was on the ground when BTC became legal currency. He says that an outsider may think the adoption is going smoothly and there is a significant uptake across the country. But from what he saw, that's not the case. "Almost no one uses Bitcoin. Very few people know really what it is. So, yeah, there's quite a lot to be said." Shipp found that most of the bitcoin adoption in the country is occurring in a small coastal town of only about 3,000 people named El Zonte - or as it's known in the crypto industry, Bitcoin Beach. Outside of that, even in the capital of San Salvador, finding a Bitcoin user isn't easy he says. On Wednesday, the nation marked its bicentennial. Celebrations were marked by more protests against the government, including adopting Bitcoin as a legal currency. "Part of what's happened is that the government coming in and enforcing some kind of legal tender law are you doing something more or less authoritarian?" Ship says that is making a lot of people who don't really know much about Bitcoin turn against it before they're even educated on it.
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#Crypto #Blockchain #BlockchainTechnology #DigitalAssets #Cryptocurrency #DeFi #ElSalvador #Bitcoin #SouthKorea #ECNY #CBDC #DigitalYuan #CryptoExchange #China #Beijing2022