Our Man in Shanghai: Digital yuan tests,'bear market' and'NFT' Hunts spike

Digital RMB testing for cross border payments and electric vehicles proceeds, sentiment takes a dip and blockchain events come back to meatspace.

Sentiment in China has slumped as WeChat searches for Bitcoin dropped 7% this week, while searches for"bear market" spiked 102%. 1 trend that stayed powerful was NFT-related, with NFTs getting an 86% rise in WeChat searches within the seven-day period. Token sales were another hot item with interest in Casper Labs surging later signups on CoinList breached 100,000 on global platforms.

One high-profile token sale to emerge from China was DAO-as-a-Service stage Dora Factory. DoraHacks is famous for hosting developer events and is among the most active blockchain developer communities to originate from China. The group will be hosting a global hackathon show in 2021, landing regions including Singapore, the USA, Germany and India.

Actual world events ago for spring time
Cointelegraph China kicked off their Hot Trends 2021 event in Chengdu on Thursday, welcoming lots of projects and industry participants into the southern town. The event's addresses and panels are researching the sustainability of trends like DeFi and NFTs. Chengdu has been an important city in the Oriental cryptocurrency mining space due to reduced power costs and developed infrastructure.

Solana and Serum hosted a DeFi Night at Shanghai on March 20 because they lasted boosting their ecosystem in Asia. The event also included speakers in Aave, Chainlink, Multicoin Capital, Raydium along with The Graph. The ecosystem itself race is now significant as major players like BSC, Huobi (Heco), OKEx (OKExChain), and Solana all attempt to draw their share of their large development pool in cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and Hangzhou. FTX creator Sam Bankman-Fried gave a keynote into the event via pre-recorded video.

Digital yuan tests
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority began working with the People's Bank of China Digital Currency Research Institute to examine the technologies that enables the usage of digital yuan for cross-border payments, according to Yu Wai-man. Yu is the current Chief Executive of the HKMA.

Also on March 19, several state-owned companies, under the advice of the CPC Working Committee began applying the electronic yuan to be used as a system of payment in charging electric vehicles at the Xiongan new area near Beijing. Among these companies were also a sub-branch of the PBoC, Bank of China, China Telecom and the China State Grid. Linking the digital yuan with fresh energy initiatives is quickly becoming a priority for state-related organizations, particularly with the announcement which the brand new five-year plan would target carbon neutrality by 2060.

On March 23, Chinese state media outlet Sina reported that the six biggest major government-owned banks have started testing wallet services for its electronic yuan. The banks would be able to whitelist testers who can then download the mobile app and set up a sub-account. Phase 1 of the pilot should start next month

Ant Group's blockchain newspaper
The paper outlined how government organizations can use information technology, digital identity solutions and blockchain infrastructure to provide and handle information. Ant Group has experienced a challenging period after their highly-anticipated public offering was canceled amid concerns about interest rates on digital lending.

Case studies on money laundering
Finally, on March 21, the PBoC and the Supreme People's Procuratorate (China's greatest legal prosecuting authority) released six instances of modern money laundering methods, the majority of which comprised Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. In one of those cases, one convicted person received two decades in prison and a fine for illegal fundraising through an unlicensed electronic currency trading platform.