18/09/2018: Biggest Stories in the Cryptosphere

1. Chinese Govt-backed Fund To Invest in Japanese Yen-pegged Stablecoin

Back in April, we reported on the Xiong’An Global Blockchain Innovation Fund, a Chinese government-backed blockchain fund. At the time, $1.6 billion was allocated to investments in startups. 30% of the amount was provided by the government itself. It has now been reported that Grandshores Technology wants to raise HK$100 million ($12.74 million), through a digital token fund, to issue a stable coin pegged to the Japanese yen. Grandshores Technology is indirectly controlled by Yongjie Yao, who is also a founder partner of the Xiong’An Global Blockchain. The funds, denominated in tether (US dollar-pegged stablecoin), will be raised from investors living outside of China. Yao believes that in the next three to five years blockchain will become mainstream and this is why he is currently focusing on the funding of blockchain and crypto startups/projects.

2. US Regulator Calls For ‘Do No Harm’ Approach

U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo believes that regulators should adopt a ‘do no harm’ approach when dealing with crypto. He backed his statement by mentioning that when the internet was born decades ago, it was able to flourish due to the government not implementing aggressive regulations. He’s now calling for the same to be done with crypto. Giancarlo shared his thoughts while interviewed by CNBC during the Singapore Summit, which took place last week. However, it should be noted that he’s not ignoring the risks of fraud and manipulation, problems which often arise with foreign exchanges and precious metals. In fact, the regulator said that, in that case, regulators need to maintain a strong approach. Still, in regards to policy making, he feels it’s important to be moderate and well informed when making decisions.

3. American National Standards Institute To Discuss Blockchain At Next Forum

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has announced on its website that at the next Legal Issues and Joint Member Forum, the World Standards Week 2018, the topics of discussion will be blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI). ANSI is an American “private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards” on various matters. At the event, there will be the possibility to discuss ethical and legal concerns, along with how blockchain could actually be employed. The list of attendees will also comprise of experts from various industries, including healthcare, transportation and food safety. ANSI previously set international standards for the C language, ANSI C, and the first computer programming language standard, FORTRAN 66.

4. Blockchain Can Help Societies Deal With Environmental Issues

The World Economic Forum (WEF) created, in collaboration with services network PwC, a report exploring how blockchain can help with the environmental issues our society has to deal with. The document was released last week at the Global Climate Action Summit. Blockchain-backed platforms could, for example, assist with the decentralisation of the management of natural resources such as energy and water. It could also lead to greater sustainability by improving supply chains. It is possible to affirm that the technology is already helping to bring more transparency. For example, at the beginning of this year, we covered the WWF’s decision to adopt blockchain technology to fight illegal fishing and tuna fishing slavery. How blockchain could save the planet was also one of the hot topics of the Blockchain Summit In Morocco. Here, it was discussed how it could bring more transparency to various industries. The same belief was reached in this report. PwC UK Partner Celine Herweijer noted that even if so far the focus has been on the financial services industry, blockchain could also help the environment.

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