China Round-Up: Bitcoin ‘Unicorn’ Valuations, Number of DLT Companies Explodes

In recent cryptocurrency news from China, three cryptocurrency mining hardware manufacturers have been valued at more than $1 billion USD, Bitmain has supported the launch of a research center for digital financial assets at Tsinghua University, and more than 3,000 companies were found to have registered blockchain-themed business names during the first half of 2018.

Also Read:Powerful Cryptocurrency Firms on the Road Towards Becoming Banks

Bitmain, Canaan Creative, and Ebang Ranked as Chinese ‘Unicorns’

Shanghai-based Hurun Research Institute has published its Q2 Unicorn Index for the Greater China region, which features cryptocurrencies companies for the first time.

Bitmain is ranked 13th on the list, with Hurun valuing the company to be worth 70 billion yuan ($10.3 billion USD approximately). Canaan Creative also holds a significant position on the list, sitting at 32nd (tied with 20 other companies) with a valuation of roughly 20.34 billion yuan (approximately $3 billion USD). Ebang ranks 53rd alongside 38 other companies with an approximated valuation of 10.17 billion yuan (roughly $1.5 billion USD). All three companies recently indicated their desire to conduct initial public offerings on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in the coming months.

Bitmain Backs Launch of Digital Asset Research Center at Tsinghua University

The Tsinghua School of Economics and Management has launched a “digital asset research center”, with reports asserting that donations from Bitmain were instrumental in leading to the establishment of the center.

Bitmain has ties with a number of leading Chinese universities, including Tsinghua University. Bitmain has provided sponsorship to the Tsinghua supercomputing team since 2016.

Bitmain also recently revealed that it plans to expand its development center in Israel. The expansion is expected to more than triple the number of Bitmain employees currently located at the facility (15), with the company indicating that it expects to recruit more than 40 additional employees to work at the center.

Over 3,000 Chinese Businesses Register Blockchain-Related Names in First Half of 2018

South China Morning Post has reported that the number of companies that have registered names including the word ‘blockchain’ between January and July 16th of this year has increased by 500% when compared with the entirety of 2017.

As of July 16th, 3,078 companies had registered names containing the term “qukualian” (the Chinese translation of ‘blockchain’) during 2018, bringing the total number of firms with distributed ledger technology-themed names in China to more than 4,000. By contrast, it is estimated that 817 U.S.-registered firms include the term ‘blockchain’ in their name, with 335 companies donning similar names in the U.K.

Earlier this year, it was reported that Shenzhen Stock Exchange and Shanghai Stock Exchange were moving to crack down on the practice of companies seeking to cash in on the hype surrounding cryptocurrencies and distributed ledger technology. In March, China Money Network reported that “More than 20 listed companies have been questioned by the Shenzhen and Shanghai exchanges about their suspicious speculation on blockchain.”

Do you feel that China will continue to bolster its blockchain industry whilst seeking to restrict access to cryptocurrencies? Join the discussion in the comments section below!

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