Standard Chartered Bank announced the successful completion of its first cross-blockchain pilot transactions between Hong Kong and Mainland China. The Chinese central bank previously said it would trial its digital yuan central bank digital currency (CBDC) for exactly this scenario, but no mention of the digital yuan was made. [Ledger Insights]
ESign, an Ant Group-backed Chinese provider of electronic signature services, has secured over 1 billion yuan in a new round of funding as its market grew during the pandemic. It expanded by tapping into “new demands [that] emerged amid Covid-19.” This included the introduction of its blockchain-powered smart contracts in cooperation with Ant Group in May. [Caixin Global / Tech in Asia]
Ethereum 2.0 countdown begins with the release of its deposit contract. Ethereum 2.0 will go live on 1 December 2020. [Source: Coindesk / Techradar]
Earlier this week, the bitcoin community was shocked when a digital wallet containing roughly $1 billion in bitcoin — thought to be proceeds from the now-shuttered dark web drug marketplace Silk Road — was emptied by an unknown individual. Now, those responsible for cleaning out the funds have revealed themselves: it was the US government. [The Verge]
