Bitcoin in Brief Wednesday: China Fights Impersonators and Fraudsters

In today’s edition of Bitcoin in Brief we feature stories that show cryptocurrency is still a hot topic in China, for better or worse. Additionally covered are market awareness in Germany, a mosque that accepts bitcoin donations, a new green mining farm and an MMA champ’s love for crypto.

Also Read: Dominance of Big Banks in UK Means London Might Miss the Boat on Bitcoin

Mao Impersonator Enrages Chinese Netizens

Chinese social media has erupted in anger this week after the use of a Mao impersonator at the Boao Blockchain Forum for Asia in Hainan province on Monday. “You are worthy of being called the great sons and daughters of the Chinese nation, and I thank you in the name of Mao Zedong,” the actor greeted the audience, but it appears the public disagrees.

Mao is still officially revered in the country as the father of communist China and the law forbids using his image for promoting commercial goods and services. “The Boao Asia Blockchain Forum organizing committee expresses sincere apologies to all audiences, for the disturbance of public opinion caused by the conference,” a following apology statement explained.

China Confiscates ¥1.7 Billion From Onecoin Scheme

According to reports from the region, a local Chinese procurator’s office has prosecuted 98 people and recovered 1.7 billion yuan (about $270 million) in an alleged Onecoin pyramid scheme. The case is thought to involve up to 15 billion yuan, and had been under investigation since July 2016, supervised by the Ministry of Public Security.

The Onecoin scheme involved twenty provinces in the country, according to South China Morning Post . Details of the case are “complicated,” and the amount involved is “huge”, and the final four suspects in the case had been prosecuted, the reports said. Around the end of 2017, 33 defendants were sentenced to four years in prison and fined between 10,000 and 5 million yuan.

85% of Germans Have Heard of Cryptocurrencies

The majority of Germans have heard about bitcoin and even think they understand the term. This according to an online survey conducted by YouGov Deutschland GmbH, in which 2051 persons participated between 11/05/2018 and 14/05/2018. The results were weighted and said to be representative of the German population over 18 years of age.

The stats show that 85% of Germans have heard of cryptocurrencies and say they know what the term means. 38% believe that their importance will increase and 21% foresee a loss of significance. 8% percent even say that they would invest all or the larger part of their available money in cryptocurrencies rather than in equities. 53% believe that cryptocurrencies would become more attractive, and 25% do not.

Ramadan Kareem

The Shacklewell Lane Mosque in Dalston, East London, UK has reportedly decided to accept cryptocurrencies as charity. “For a donor that already has a bitcoin or an ethereum account, the effort of converting cryptocurrency into say British pounds or dollars can be quite burdensome. The mosque effectively takes the burden on themselves,” said consultant Lukasz Musial. “For the donor, it’s just the click of a button to transfer to an account provided by the charity. From the mosque’s perspective, it opens a new stream of donations coming from all over the world,” he added.

Greenhouse Mining

United American Corp, a Florida-based company, has announced it completed the construction of its first “Blockchain Dome Heat Station” and greenhouse in the Canadian province of Quebec and that all 1,000 mining rig heat generation modules are in full service. Heat coming out of the rigs is used to warm the facility instead of letting that energy go to waste.

“The Blockchain Dome was built on budget, on-time and to our specification. The results we can see and measure are overwhelming and beyond our expectations,” said CEO Benoit Laliberte. “We will provide further information to the market soon, but we can already state that we have set new efficiency and performance standards for this type of operation going forward,” he added.

The sustainable use of mining-generated heat has been a hot topic for a while now. Earlier this year we reported about a similar venture after a photo of ‘Cryptomatoes’ went viral.

Crypto Champ Strikes Again

On Monday, we reported that Rory MacDonald, the current Bellator MMA Welterweight World Champion, has shared a clip of himself training in a BCH shirt. And on his latest interview on The MMA Hour the champ explained his decision to support cryptocurrency in general and bitcoin cash in particular.

What do you think about today’s news updates? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. 

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