There should be no more exchange licenses issued domestically in the future; Last week saw a small peak in 14 financing cases | PA Weekly

Overview: The head of the Beijing Financial Supervision Administration announced that the first batch of projects to enter the regulatory sandbox will be released this week, indicating that there are no plans to issue cryptocurrency exchange licenses in the country in the future; the Central Bank of the Bahamas has begun trialing central bank digital currency; and Bitcoin saw a price increase of over 10% this week, possibly influenced by the tense situation between the US and Iran.

According to PANews statistics, there were a total of 14 financing projects in the blockchain field announced last week, with a total amount exceeding $138.48 million (excluding projects that have not disclosed specific financing amounts), involving various sectors such as gaming, digital banks, exchanges, technical services, and data. On January 11, the Director of the Beijing Financial Supervision Bureau, Huo Xuewen, stated that the financial technology "regulatory sandbox" had been implemented last year and the first batch of projects to enter the sandbox will be announced next week. Huo revealed that any technology applied to the financial field can undergo sandbox testing, and blockchain technology will definitely be included. He emphasized that testing blockchain technology not only evaluates the technology itself but also tests the project's service to the real economy, such as serving small and micro-businesses, enhancing financial risk management, and providing financial value to more people. Furthermore, regarding the issuance of virtual currency exchange licenses domestically in the future, Huo mentioned that it is unlikely to happen. China does not allow cross-border virtual currency trading, institutions cannot sell foreign virtual currencies domestically, and any institution cannot provide exchange services between virtual currency and RMB. Any such activities will be closely monitored and strictly cracked down upon. In addition, the People's Bank of China announced on January 10 that it has completed the "Review of the People's Bank's 2019 Financial Technology" outlining the orderly advancement of the development and testing of legal digital currency. The People's Bank has completed the top-level design, standard setting, function development, and coordinated testing of legal digital currency. They are also actively researching digital currency and tracking international information on digital currencies. Furthermore, in promoting financial standardization, the financial standard system will continue to be improved. Currently, 17 financial industry standards, including artificial intelligence, blockchain, big data, and cloud computing, are being rapidly developed. These are just a few highlights from the comprehensive PANews article.