China Crypto Roundup (Feb.1-Feb.7): Cryptocurrency Investments Facing New Problems, Digital RMB Getting New Progress

1. Multiple cases banning cryptocurrencies from settling with RMB will make it harder to recoup investment losses

Chinese courts have not denied that bitcoin is property, but exchange and settlement between virtual and fiat currencies, which are prohibited by the policy. It began to be enforced recently, which will make it more difficult to recover losses from cryptocurrency investments through the law.

Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court recently quashed a 2018 ruling by Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration. The ruling, which made a stir in the industry at the time, confirmed that Bitcoin is property. Justice Department characterized it as “filling a gap in judicial precedent.” After 2 years, it was revoked by the court, because it involved the exchange of RMB. The same thing happened in Shanghai.

2. Beijing will issue the first round of 10 million digital RMB red envelopes

The first round of the digital RMB red envelope issued in Beijing has a total value of 10 million yuan, with 50,000 digital RMB red envelopes distributed to individual consumers in the capital. The red envelopes will be handed out by lottery, with each digital red envelope worth 200 yuan. The reservation registration channel officially opened from February 7, 2021.

3. There are 3,404 offline merchants supporting digital RMB payment in Changsha

Since November 2020 when Changsha was officially approved as a pilot city for digital RMB, Changsha Municipal People’s Government and Changsha Central Sub-branch of the People’s Bank of China have organized six pilot banking institutions including ICBC, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, Construction Bank of China, Bank of Communications and Postal Savings as well as CICC Financial Branch to carry out digital RMB pilot projects in various fields related to digital payment.

As of February 2, there were 3,404 offline merchants supporting digital RMB payment in Changsha. In the future, the pilot scenarios of digital RMB will continue to expand and extend to more fields.