Pro-blockchain official Yao Qian, also known as Crypto Dad, is reportedly under investigation by Chinese authorities for suspicions of legal violations.
The Shanghai Securities News reported on April 26 that the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China is presently investigating Yao on suspicion of “serious violations” of law and discipline. The precise rationales behind the inquiry remain undisclosed.
Yao, presently the director of the Science and Technology Supervision Bureau at the China Securities Regulatory Commission, is an influential member of the Chinese blockchain community.
He is the inaugural director of the People’s Bank of China’s (PBoC) central bank digital currency (CBDC) research department. Occasionally referred to as the “Crypto Dad” of China, he held this position between 2017 and 2018.
President of the China Securities Regulatory Commission’s Science and Technology Supervision Bureau, Yao Qian. The 21jingji.com source
Despite discontinuing active CBDC development at the PBoC, Yao continued participating in discussions and research regarding digital currencies.
The former director of CBDC research for the PBoC predicted in May 2021 that state-operated digital currencies might one day function on blockchain networks such as the Ethereum blockchain and become more “smart.”
Late in 2019, China piloted its CBDC, the digital yuan, becoming one of the first jurisdictions in the world to complete real-world CBDC tests.
In 2021, the PBoC initiated cross-border CBDC pilot programs in conjunction with the central banks of Hong Kong, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates shortly after commencing domestic digital yuan testing.
The inauguration of the PBoC’s digital yuan was consistent with China’s “blockchain, not crypto” strategy, as President Xi Jinping of China urged aggressive blockchain adoption in October 2019.
The Chinese government, in contrast, has adopted an antagonistic posture toward cryptocurrencies and will outlaw all crypto transactions in 2021.
In contrast to the rejection of cryptocurrency development on the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, a particular administrative region of China, has been an active adopter of cryptocurrencies in recent years.
The Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong approved on April 24 for the initial set of spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) utilizing Bitcoin and Ether. If authorized, Hong Kong will launch spot Ether ETFs before the United States, with trading commencing in Hong Kong on April 30.
