Our weekly roundup of reports from East Asia curates the trade’s most necessary developments.

Bitmain allegedly fired workers after wage complaints

Bitcoin application-specific built-in circuit (ASIC) mining producer Bitmain has allegedly fired three of its staff for chatting with the media concerning the withholding of wage funds by their employer. 

In response to native information reviews on Oct. 17, citing an alleged inner Bitmain memo, the corporate accused three workers members of breaching varied clauses of their employment contracts for sharing their remuneration on social media platforms. The word reads: 

“The EMT [Executive Management Team] has determined: (1) Worker Li of product operations and circuit improvement, is to be fired instantly and blacklisted. (2) Worker Xie of product operations and circuit improvement, is to be fired instantly and blacklisted. (3) Worker Ding, administrative intern at strategic improvement PMT, is to be fired instantly and blacklisted. The intern’s post-secondary establishment shall additionally be told of the incident.”

“As well as, the corporate reserves the correct to pursue authorized motion in opposition to the people above,” Bitmain allegedly wrote. “With out authorization by the corporate, nothing will be stated, nothing will be given [to outsiders!]”

Bitmain’s alleged layoff discover (BlockBeats)

On Oct. 9, Cointelegraph reported that Bitmain allegedly paused September wage funds for its workers members as the corporate “has but to realize a web optimistic money circulate, particularly within the orders of [new] ASICs.” As well as, staff allegedly face a 50% lower to their base wage, with all bonuses and incentives being eliminated. 

Based in Beijing, China in 2013, Bitmain is among the world’s largest Bitcoin mining ASIC producers, with an estimated 70% market share throughout the earlier bull market that led to 2021. The agency’s Antminer ASIC sequence at present leads the trade when it comes to hash charge computations for mining Bitcoin. Over the previous yr, a number of Bitcoin mining operators have gone bankrupt as the value of Bitcoin plunged whereas electrical energy prices surged. 

Hong Kong buyers spooked by JPEX scandal 

Regardless of efforts to regulate the sector, it seems that some Hong Kong residents have misplaced their confidence in crypto after the biggest Ponzi scheme within the metropolis’s historical past, the $175 million JPEX crypto change scandal, unfolded final month. 

In response to a brand new examine printed by the HKUST Business Faculty Central on Oct. 17, 41% of Hong Kong residents are not considering holding crypto property, a pointy rise of 12% in comparison with earlier than the JPEX incident. The survey featured 7,900 respondents and was performed between April and October. 

JPEX sales space commercial posted the day earlier than the change was raided by police. (Fb)

The examine additionally revealed that 84% of Hong Kongers have heard of crypto, with 27% of respondents claiming they both maintain digital property now or have been beforehand crypto buyers. For these investing in crypto, over 80% stated they might not make investments over 50,000 Hong Kong {dollars} ($6,390) into the sector. Apparently, 57% of respondents stated they understood that crypto exchanges should receive a license earlier than working in Hong Kong, a rise of 15% in comparison with earlier than the JPEX scandal unraveled. 

Wu Huang, a professor at HKUST Business Faculty Central, commented: 

“We hope that the outcomes of this survey can present trade stakeholders with extra views to assist construct a sound digital asset trade. As digital property play an more and more necessary position within the digital financial system, there’s a must strengthen training efforts to make the general public higher Perceive the dangers and potential of this rising area.”

Final month, JPEX workers fled their company sales space at Singapore’s Token2049 occasion after the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission issued a warning concerning the change’s unregulated actions. Subsequently, Hong Kong police arrested greater than 10 company executives and influencers linked to the change on expenses of fraud. The JPEX scandal has since grown to over 2,300 victims, with losses estimated at $175 million. The change was unlicensed on the time of the incident. 

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“Factually inaccurate” information report wipes out $54 million in market cap

With regards to reporting, Cointelegraph has seen some blunders through the years. That stated, faux information is an issue throughout the trade. 

On Oct. 16, Bloomberg reported that BC Expertise Group, proprietor of licensed Hong Kong crypto change OSL, is considering the sale of the latter for 1 billion Hong Kong {dollars} ($128 million).

On Oct. 17, BC Expertise Group issued a clarification stating: “The Board needs to make clear that the contents and statements within the [Bloomberg] Article are factually inaccurate and extremely deceptive” and that it was not considering a sale of OSL. 

Sadly, buyers who purchased BC Expertise inventory based mostly on the divestiture euphoria weren’t so comfortable. After publishing the clarification assertion, shares of BC Expertise tanked 22% throughout the trading day, wiping off $54 million in market capitalization. “Shareholders of the Firm and potential buyers are suggested to train warning when dealing within the shares of the Firm,” administration wrote. 

Bitget’s new crypto bank card

Becoming a member of the likes of its friends, cryptocurrency change Bitget is launching its personal crypto-fiat bank card. In response to an Oct. 16 announcement throughout the Future Blockchain Summit in Dubai, the Bitget Card, issued by Visa and backed by digital property in customers’ accounts and wallets, might be denominated in U.S. {dollars} and might be accepted in over 180 international locations. 

Though many exchanges have rolled out their very own crypto debit or bank cards, some have seen pushback from fee processors. On Aug. 25, Mastercard stated it might finish its cryptocurrency card partnership with Binance in Latin America. Though the agency didn’t cite a selected purpose, specialists have pointed to Binance’s latest regulatory scrutiny because the underlying trigger. 

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Zhiyuan Solar

Zhiyuan Solar is a journalist at Cointelegraph specializing in technology-related information. He has a number of years of expertise writing for main financial media retailers reminiscent of The Motley Idiot, Nasdaq.com and In search of Alpha.