At the end of October, when the bitcoin price last saw a substantial uptick, it was said that one of the major reasons behind this was a statement from China’s President Xi Jinping praising blockchain technology.
However, China’s positive attitude to blockchain technology does not mean that the country is a big fan of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Trade in these has been banned in the country since 2017.
At the same time, the country has been working on getting its own digital currency. Last summer, the country’s central bank announced that it was completed. Now, a pilot program will be launched in the city of Shenzen, the local news site Caijing reports.
Issues loans with blockchain
Now come reports of yet another major development in the country’s blockchain space. China’s central bank has allegedly issued 20 billion yuan (about $2,85 billion) in blockchain-based loans to Chinese small businesses.
China’s central bank has lent a lot of money to smaller companies this fall. Payments have increased by about 35 percent since last year. The reason for this is said to be a willingness to support the economic development, Chinese news site Sina writes.
Covers three steps
New for this particular round of loans is that they are being paid out with the help of the central bank’s own blockchain technology. This permeates the entire process of paying out the loans. This includes preparation of bonds, bookkeeping of the loans and pricing and investment, according to Sina.
Last week, Trijo News reported that 24 Chinese nationals were arrested in Thailand on crypto-related charges. You can read about that here.
