Chinese internet giant Tencent may be establishing “a digital currency research project group” according to local media. The company did not deny the news to reporters, but did not provide further information. However, CoinDesk reports that the “new team will look at how to use digital currencies in its payments platform as well as explore other possible business applications. It will also consider how cryptocurrencies could be used within existing and future regulatory regimes”.
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Also in China, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SSE) has announced the launch of an index tracking the performance of 50 blockchain firms. A loosely translated excerpt from the announcement reads:
The Shenzhen Stock Exchange Blockchain 50 Index is based on companies listed in the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, whose business areas involve the upstream, middle, and downstream of the blockchain industry. The stocks constitute sample stocks. The index is weighted by free float market value, and the sample stocks are regularly adjusted on the next trading day of the second Friday in June and December each year.
Malta-based crypto exchange OKEx has launched Bitcoin (BTC) options trading for select clients, according to a report from Cointelegraph. In part of a statement shared with the outlet, Lennix Lai, financial market director of OKEx, said:
“Options are a unique instrument that enables traders to manage, price and hedge the volatility of crypto assets […] to take advantage of more than just market direction. We welcome clients from different segments, especially from our institutional clients, who have shown the fastest-growing demand in derivatives trading, especially on futures and perpetual swaps.”
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Japanese financial services firm Tokai Tokyo Financial Holdings has entered into a capital and business alliance agreement with Huobi Japan, the Japanese branch of crypto exchange giant Huobi. This will see a planned investment of 500 million yen (close to $4.6 million USD) from the former. An excerpt from the press release reads:
Using the capital and business alliance with Huobi Japan, a Japanese subsidiary of Huobi Group, which is a global blockchain business developer, we will promote new businesses in the areas of crypto asset exchange, new financing schemes utilizing crypto assets such as Initial Exchange Offering (IEO) local currency issuance, and storage and management service associated with crypto assets. We [will] consider expanding this business to partner regional banks and other regional banks in the future.
