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Three Crypto Hackers Arrested In China, Accused Of Stealing $87 Million In Bitcoin (BTC) And Other Cryptos

Three crypto hackers, suspected of committing the most massive theft related to cryptocurrency in China, were arrested by Chinese police after a coordinated operation in several cities, according to local press reports. The hackers stole Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptos with a total value of 600 million yuan (about $87 million) after they hacked into people’s and companies’ computers.

According to the Chinese news agency Xinhua, the police investigation began in late March, when a citizen named Zhang went to the Xian City Public Safety Office to report that his computer had been hacked. The victim stated that in the attack he was robbed of 100 million yuan, about $15 million, in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).

With the help of several undisclosed internet companies, the investigators followed up on the transactions that led them to a suspect identified as Zhou. Subsequently, Zhou’s communications led to two alleged associates in the criminal operation.

The three cybercriminals reportedly used sophisticated computer techniques to access their victims’ computers remotely and then cover their tracks, leaving little trace of the cyber attacks. In this way, they were able to steal approximately 600 million yuan, equivalent to $87 million, in digital assets, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), from multiple personal and business computers.

The crypto hackers arrested in China for stealing $87 million in Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptos used sophisticated techniques to avoid detection

The local South China Morning Post noted that “the three suspects had been studying hacking technology since they were 12-13 years old and had worked for major Internet companies.

The Chinese police also reported that hackers divided the proceeds from the sale of stolen cryptocurrencies into smaller units and conducted multiple transactions in an attempt to avoid detection. This operation required the analysis of 30,000 pieces of evidence, according to the local news portal.

The suspects were arrested on August 5th during a joint and simultaneous police operation in Hunan, Changchun and Beijing provinces. The case will remain open until further investigations.

About a month ago, cybercriminals in China were hit by another blow, as the Chinese police arrested 20 people belonging to the technology firm Dalian Shengping Network Technology for spreading crypto mining malware on over one million computers. This activity brought hackers illicit profits of $2 million over the past two years.

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Crypto Finance News

The Leading Credit Institution In China Issued A Loan Using The Blockchain Technology

The Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), the fourth largest bank in China, has issued its first loan based on the blockchain, according to a July 31st report by the local news channel Financial News.

Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) had granted a loan via the blockchain technology

ABC, one of China’s leading credit institutions, announced that it had issued a credit of around $300,000, guaranteed by a piece of agricultural land in the province of Guizhou.

According to Financial News, the bank will bring together “local people, resource offices as well as agriculture and livestock offices” through the blockchain system, adding that the loan “will support the local tea industry.”

The ABC’s blockchain project received the participation of third parties, including the provincial branch of the Chinese People’s Bank, which acted as nodes for verifying the validity of credit data.

More blockchain-based loans to be granted in the future, according to ABC

In the future, as the bank says, other types of loans will be under the auspices of the blockchain technology, with decentralized ledger technology enabling ABC to prevent the issuance of customers applying for loans from different banks using the same property as a guarantee.

Accordingly, more blockchain technology-based loans would be granted in the future, as the distributed ledger technology wins more and more ground in China.

The Chinese government and local FinTech companies work on IoT and blockchain technology standardization

China continues to deploy blockchain technology at a significant pace, and the government plans to introduce industry-wide standards next year.

In July, China’s Joint Technical Committee of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) announced that they would lead an international research group on standardization of the Internet of Things (IoT) and blockchain technology.

Be it as it may, China is making huge leaps towards becoming a blockchain nation, although cryptocurrencies are still considered high-risk assets for the Chinese economy.

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Crypto News

Bitcoin (BTC) Mining Operations Unregistered With The Chinese Government Will Be Shut Down In China

Illegal Bitcoin (BTC) mining activities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of northwestern China will be shut down next September by order of the Economic and Information Commission (EIC).

According to information published last Saturday by a local media outlet, the EIC wrote a notice requesting local companies to suspend illegal crypto mining activities. The leaked announcement mentions that these companies will have until August 30th to submit reports on the process of cessation of their operations.

Illegal Bitcoin (BTC) mining activities are defined in the publication as an operation that is not registered with the Chinese government, and that requires a high consumption of unauthorized electricity, in the absence of formal contracts with utilities.

China and illegal Bitcoin (BTC) mining operations

This requirement of the EIC is unprecedented in measures taken earlier this year. In January 2018, the miners of the area were instructed to report on the 5th of each month for instructions on their orderly exit from the business. That is a measure that seemed to respond to the guidance of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), which, since January 2nd, has instructed local governments to take action to regulate electricity consumption, land use, taxes and environmental protection, in the face of the demand for resources by companies engaged in crypto mining.

In that sense, some reports indicate that many of the Bitcoin (BTC) mining companies located in the region are leaving for Canada and the United States in search of better conditions to dedicate themselves to this activity, even if they have to start from scratch once again.

These kinds of decisions have been generating concern within the cryptocurrencies market, as they are seen as part of a plan by the Chinese government to eradicate mining from the Asian country. That is due to the implications that such decisions could have on the niche, as it is a country that concentrates more than 50% of the large Bitcoin (BTC) mining pools, according to estimates made at the end of 2017, and a significant percentage of the processing power of this network.

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Crypto News

China Plans To Lead IoT And Blockchain Technology Standardization

China will lead an international research group to standardize the Internet of Things (IoT) and blockchain technology, the local news portal Science and Technology Daily reported recently.

The joint technical committee, consisting of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), adopted the proposal to form this international research group after a one-month discussion of the committee members.

China promotes the industrialization of IoT and blockchain

Science and Technology Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, writes that the creation of this group means that China has gained “discourse power” over blockchain technology integration.

It is of great importance for China’s industries, which are linked to leading global development and promoting the integration of Fiat and the digital economy.

The international research group chaired by Dr. Shen Jie will promote fiat digital integration by providing a variety of industrial application scenarios and developing a mechanism to promote the international standardization of IoT and blockchain technologies.

The new group will be made of analysts of ten countries, such as the US, the UK, and Germany, among others

China has recently made progress in the acceptance of blockchain technology. Last month, the Digital Currency Research Lab of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) filed a patent for a digital wallet that would allow users to track their transaction history. Also in June PBoC unveiled a blockchain-operated system for digitizing paper cheques.

Earlier this week, as reported by Cointelegraph, the deputy director of the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) had called on the country to “unite” its forces to promote the Blockchain as the “core” technology for the new digital economy.

The new research group will consist of experts from over ten countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France.

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Crypto News

China Works On Developing Its Own Digital Currency, A Mix Between Cryptocurrency And Fiat Money

China’s efforts to develop a digital currency of its own are tilted towards a model that combines the main features of a cryptocurrency and the existing fiat monetary system in the Asian country. That is the idea that has emerged from research into patent applications filed by the Digital Coin Research Center since its creation last year.

The information, based on data from the State Intellectual Property Office of China (SIPO), indicates that the Digital Coin Research Center, created in June 2017 by the People’s Bank of China, had filed 41 patent applications related to the creation of a digital coin as of Friday, June 22nd, 2018.

According to research published by Coindesk, each patent corresponds to a specific aspect of the system which, when combined, would make possible a technology capable of issuing digital currency and providing the user with a wallet that stores and processes the asset on an ‘end-to-end’ basis. The ultimate goal would be to achieve such an integration that the new digital currency with cryptographic features could be widely incorporated into the existing financial structure.

China proves, once again, its affinity for cryptocurrency and blockchain technology

Among the characteristics of the wallet developed by the Chinese Government, it is worth mentioning that it will be compatible with different types of cryptocurrencies issued by authorized bodies and will have a multi-signature security mechanism.

Some spokesmen for the Chinese government, such as the deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, Fan Yifei, and the head of the research laboratory, Yao Qian, have publicly expressed opinions in keeping with the implementation of this hybrid digital currency, aimed at achieving “a balance between centralization and decentralization.”

Although the model for the new Chinese cryptocurrency-related digital currency does not adhere to the concept and philosophy of a true cryptocurrency, it is clear that the government of China is in favor of the use of blockchain technology in various sectors and processes.

In fact, activities such as mortgage registrations and check validation are already being carried out, or are in the process of being executed, with the support of the blockchain technologies.

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