Chinese ‘Crypto Father’ Faces Government Investigation

Chinese authorities have reportedly launched an investigation into local pro-blockchain official Yao Qian on suspicion of legal violations.

According to an April 26 report by Shanghai Securities News, Yao is currently under investigation by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on suspicion of “serious violations” of discipline and law. Specific reasons for the investigation were not disclosed.

Yao is a prominent figure in China's blockchain community, currently serving as director of the China Securities Regulatory Commission's Bureau of Science and Technology Supervision.

He is sometimes referred to as China's “Crypto Father” and is the first director of the China Central Bank's Digital Currency (CBCC) Research Unit at the People's Bank of China (PBC), where he served from 2017 to 2018.

After ceasing active CBC development at the PBoC, Yao is still engaged in digital currency research and discussions.

In May 2021, the former head of PBOC CBCC Research predicted that government-run digital currencies would become “smarter” and could one day run on blockchain networks like the Ethereum blockchain.

Mainland China's CBCC, a digital yuan, was put to the test in late 2019, becoming one of the first jurisdictions in the world to complete real-world CBCC tests.

Shortly after launching a domestic digital yuan trial, PeboC has launched cross-border CBDC pilots in 2021 in partnership with central banks in Hong Kong, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates.

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The PBoC's digital yuan launch comes alongside China's “blockchain, not crypto” approach, as Chinese President Xi Jinping called for aggressive blockchain adoption in October 2019.

In contrast, the Chinese government has taken a hostile stance against crypto, banning all crypto transactions by 2021.

While mainland China rejects cryptocurrency development, China's special administrative region of Hong Kong has been actively getting into crypto for the past few years.

On April 24, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission approved the first batch of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETF). Hong Kong State Ether is poised to beat the United States when it launches the ETF, with the start of trading in Hong Kong scheduled for April 30.

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