Global Coin Research: Justin Sun's international game of PR, China drives $30M daily tether OTC volume in Russia

The following weekly newsletter is republished with permission from Global Coin Research, a global research firm with a focus on Asia blockchain and related technologies. You can find more resources on Asia Cryptocurrency and Blockchain at GlobalCoinResearch.com and on Twitter at @globalcoinrsrch

Global Coin Research Newsletters in Chinese

Top News

Bank of China, one of the country’s big four state-run commercial lenders, releases infographic to raise bitcoin awareness. Source 

Philippines-based UnionBank has launched a payments-focused stablecoin pegged to the Philippine peso called PHX. Source 

Chinese importers in Russia are buying up to $30 million a day of tether (USDT) from Moscow’s over-the-counter trading desks. Source 

Bitfinex CFO talks about the USDT hearing: the U.S. Government just wants to share a piece of our business, but they have no way to get it. Google translate

Justin Sun's international game of PR: Between China and the U.S., Justin Sun’s PR game maybe running out of steam. GCR profiles the rise and questionable acts of Justin Sun. Source 

Global Coin Research has officially released its complete guidebook on Asia Cryptocurrency and Blockchain communities titled: “The Small Handbook to Asia Crypto: on Local Ecosystems, Trends and Regulations”

Coins and Mining

Cheeze Wizards, the new battle royale game from the makers of CryptoKitties, is hosting a global hackathon beginning August 1.

Singapore blockchain firm Perlin acquires struggling Dispatch Labs. Source 

Exchange News

Bitcoin development firm Blockstream has launched a new version of the stablecoin Tether on its nascent "Liquid Network." Source 

Japan’s BitFlyer announced that it will start buying and selling Bitcoin in Europe. Instead of trading, they can exchange euro and bitcoin up to 20 BTC directly. Source 

Bitfinex announces eosfinex.

Four cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea — Bithumb, Upbit, Coinone and Korbit — are reportedly facing stricter requirements for renewal of their accounts from banks in the country.

Cryptocurrency exchange Coineal recently canceled an IEO for blockchain security company CYBR, whose founder now claims that Coineal faked IEO sales volumes and scammed them out of listing fees. Source 

Business

Spanish newspaper ABC has uncovered a scheme by which Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his associates were using a digital wallet app to turn tax revenue from domestic airports into bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that were then transferred to exchanges in Hong Kong, Hungary, Russia and China. Source 

Alibaba’s Ant Financial Services completed the first blockchain loan business- looking to solve the financing problem of small and micro-enterprises. Google translate

Some Stats of Binance new Launchpad project WINk: Total Tx Volume: 100 Billion TRX. Marking it the number 1 dapp on all EOS, ETH and TRX dapps. Source 

TSMC Confirms Bitmain’s Urgent Order for Wafers. Source 

Dual Industrial is Withdrawing from Bithumb Acquisition Deal, found a significant breach issue of the counterparty in the contract relating to the acquisition condition. Source 

Youniqx Identity AG, a subsidiary of the Austrian State Printing House, has developed a cryptocurrency hardware wallet. Source 

PwC’s Singapore is partnering with DiMuto’s Track & Trace blockchain solution, which digitises each fruit into a traceable digital asset. Source 

Regulation

Taiwan has issued its first virtual banking licenses to three firms, including subsidiaries of Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten and the country’s messaging giant LINE Group. Source 

Judge delays ruling on Bitfinex case, extending the injunction for 90 days. Source 

Singapore’s move to waive sales tax on digital payment tokens will spur innovation, boost cryptocurrency exchanges, says PwC. Source