GCR

 Top News from Tuesday to Today

South Korea Officially Legalizes Crypto Trading, Mixed Feedback From Locals As Only 4-7 of Exchanges are Licensed. http://bit.ly/2THxZiD

Justin Sun Weibo Blocked the Nth Time; China Regulators Crackdown Ongoing. http://bit.ly/3axVZLM

GCR Trend Update 2020: Crypto Trends in Thailand. http://bit.ly/3aIodDZ

The Reserve Bank of India is reportedly planning to file a review petition on the Supreme Court’s crypto ruling earlier this week, when Supreme Court lifted its blanket ban on cryptocurrencies. http://bit.ly/38tlZ9J

Flex Yang, co-founder of Babel Finance, said on Thursday the firm’s outstanding loans have grown from $52 million-worth of USDT as of Q1 2019 to $289 million as of the end of last year. http://bit.ly/38rQNb4 ; Checkout GCR analysis on the top lending players in China 

  Exchange and Markets News

Indian cryptocurrency exchanges have added support for bank account transfers, hours after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was forced to lift its cryptocurrency ban.. http://bit.ly/2VLTG3G

Huobi Thailand opens its doors, offering crypto for Thai baht. http://bit.ly/2PTCdCK

BitMEX ‘not authorized’ to operate in UK, says it is working to assess the situation. http://bit.ly/2xe6Tbl

Investments

Ceres, a marketing firm based in Japan, has just become the latest investor in the San Francisco-based blockchain and cryptocurrency hedge fund Pantera Capital. http://bit.ly/32V4yOi

Jihan Wu’s Matrixport plans to raise $40M at a post-money valuation of $300M. http://bit.ly/2vFIoU1

??Mining

Bitcoin hash rate estimates reach all-time highs as several major Bitcoin ASIC manufacturers announce new generations of mining rigs. http://bit.ly/2TGrCMs

mining hardware producer Canaan is facing a class-action lawsuit filed by investors following claims of dubious practices for attracting investments. http://bit.ly/3aofsi6

Coins

Facebook changing Course on Libra, appeasing regulators by only offering supported digital USD and Euro not a basket of currencies.

Steem Community Strikes back in Battle With Justin Sun- Binance and Huobi, which initially aided Sun, has since rescinded their votes amidst allegation of misusing user’s fund. http://bit.ly/3at9Pza

Justin Sun’s justification for his actions for Steemit: We just want to protect our hard earned money.

? Business

Chinese smartphone and electronics giant Xiaomi has been actively embracing a variety of blockchain projects to compete with fellow tech giants Alibaba and Tencent. All three recently got licenses in Hong King to set up blockchain-based banks. http://bit.ly/2Is3qIB

Coronavirus is killing the Bitcoin conference business. http://bit.ly/2uZu0Wp

A blockchain trade finance platform developed by eight major banks, among them HSBC, BNP Paribas, and Citi, is now ready for commercial launch in Singapore in Q2 2020. http://bit.ly/3cCzkzN

??Regulations

The Ministry of Education of China has just granted Chengdu University of Information Technology (CUIT) approval to open the country’s first undergraduate blockchain engineering major. Admission and enrollment will start this year. http://bit.ly/2IkPL69

 The central Chinese province of Hunan has approved the establishment of the Wanbao blockchain zone in the city of Loudi. It is the first provincial blockchain zone in Hunan province. http://bit.ly/2vx3WCl

The tax bureau of Beijing has officially announced that it will start implementing blockchain invoicing within the city. http://bit.ly/3cAn17f