20% of people in Vietnam buy BTC, and Shanghai is about to realize blockchain governance!
On August 16, according to the survey data obtained by ZB from the Finder website, nearly 41% of the respondents claimed that they had purchased cryptocurrency. 20% of Vietnamese said they bought bitcoin, the highest of all countries surveyed. Although on the surface, Vietnam’s strong performance may be surprising, 30% of respondents in Indonesia and India claim to have purchased cryptocurrency. This figure is 29% in Malaysia and 28% in the Philippines. On the other hand, the figures for the United Kingdom and the United States are 8% and 9%, respectively.
Previously, ZB Research Institute reported on the development of Singapore’s blockchain and pointed out that Southeast Asia, especially Singapore, has become a “refuge” in the global blockchain market and cryptocurrency field. After 2020, Singapore has accommodated a large number of blockchain enterprises, and Singapore’s position in the blockchain industry has been continuously improved.
Analysts believe that global cryptocurrency transactions are shifting from economically developed regions to developing or underdeveloped regions. But at present, it is still only a conceptual transfer of transactions, rather than an actual transfer of transaction focus. Although the above data confirms that the purchase rate of cryptocurrency in Southeast Asian countries is higher than that of the United Kingdom and the United States, the current bulk cryptocurrency transactions still only exist in relatively developed regions, and the volume of cryptocurrency transactions in Southeast Asia and other developing countries and underdeveloped regions is still small.
From the perspective of market analysis, the expanding market is indeed beneficial to the healthy development of the market.
On August 16, the front page of the people’s Daily published an article “Pudong, Shanghai — striving to be a new model of modern urban governance”, which pointed out that the latest technologies such as intelligent management system integration blockchain launched by the comprehensive urban operation management center of Pudong New Area have formed 57 application scenarios, and the data resources and governance elements can be presented in a holographic panorama. The platform realizes a one-screen view of the world and one network to manage the entire city, forming a comprehensive urban operation management system with full coverage, all-weather, full-process, and emergency.
ZB Research Institute believes that China’s blockchain technology has actually taken the lead in the world, and the technology has been implemented in the application and governance of blockchain technology. The accelerated implementation and development of China’s blockchain technology will promote the whole blockchain industry.
On August 16, inflation has led to the continuous devaluation of Argentina’s currency. The 100 pesos in 2019 are now worth 661 pesos. The president of Argentina assessed the rise in the perception of the bitcoin as a hedge against inflation in the global economy, but he still said that caution was needed in the field of cryptocurrency.
ZB Institute believes that Argentina turned its attention to bitcoin because the domestic French Peso has seriously exceeded the control of the country’s central bank. The fear of bitcoin monetization stems from the strangeness of the Argentine government to bitcoin and even the whole blockchain industry. It is difficult for the local government and people to understand how this wealth is realized.
Analysts believe that the president of Argentina has not rejected the use of bitcoin as a method of payment, and is likely to regard it as a commodity. The commoditization of Bitcoin may result in Argentina “regulating the intersection of Bitcoin, payment systems and trading markets.”
On August 16, the Bank of Korea is trying out the new CBDC on the Galaxy smartphone. It is testing whether offline crypto payments can be made between users. According to ZB Research Institute, the first phase of the pilot will last until December this year, and the applicability of the technology will be evaluated. The second phase, which is expected to last from January to June next year, will assess the feasibility of Bank of Korea expanding its banking business to include CBDC.
On August 16, the U.S. Treasury Department is issuing new guidelines to address the encryption industry’s concerns about the digital assets provisions in the latest infrastructure act. The Senate version of the trillion dollar infrastructure bill contains a provision designed to expand the definition of “broker” in the tax law to cover “any person (for consideration) responsible for regularly providing any service to achieve the transfer of digital assets on behalf of another person.”
Last Friday, ZB Research Institute reported on the events that Gary Gensler, chairman of the securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), pointed out that there is a real need to regulate cryptocurrency transactions and protect investors and the financial system, as well as the need to bring these transactions, products or platforms into regulation.
ZB believes that both the relevant bills of the chairman of the SEC and the U.S. Treasury show that the United States will be committed to collecting taxes on cryptocurrency transactions and actively bring cryptocurrency transactions into regulation. Therefore, cryptocurrency transactions in the United States will still be further affected.
