Stablecoin CNHC Raises 1.3 Billion Yen
Stablecoin issuer CNHC has raised approximately 1.3 billion yen ($10 million) in its Series A round. KuCoin Ventures, the investment arm of cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin, announced today that it led the round.
Stablecoin CNHC is a token pegged 1:1 with offshore renminbi. Offshore renminbi refers to renminbi traded in offshore markets by residents outside China, such as Hong Kong and Singapore. It is distinguished from the onshore renminbi circulating in mainland China.
Plans to establish a base in Hong Kong
With this funding, CNHC aims to expand adoption of its stablecoin, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. To that end, it plans to move its headquarters from the Cayman Islands to Hong Kong.
CNHC co-founder Joy Cham said he hopes the stablecoin CNHC will become “part of the infrastructure of Hong Kong’s Web3 ecosystem.” The goal is to list CNHC on many centralized exchanges and decentralized exchanges and expand exchange services with fiat currencies.
To that end, he added, there are also plans to increase the number of teams in various departments such as operations, legal compliance and business development.
Hong Kong is working hard to promote the third generation Internet (Web3). In February, Hong Kong’s finance minister presented parliament with a 2023 fiscal budget, in which it allocated about 6.7 billion yen ($50 million) to accelerate Web3’s development.
Hong Kong also has a vision to become a center of virtual currency, and the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has released a draft that includes approval of individual investors’ virtual currency trading by June this year. bottom. Hong Kong is currently piloting cryptocurrency trading, allowing only professional investors with a certain amount of assets to trade.
connection: Hong Kong government’s 2023 budget proposal, 6.8 billion yen for Web3 ecosystem development?
What is Web3
The current centralized web is defined as Web2, and refers to an attempt to realize a non-centralized network using blockchain. A typical feature is the use case of decentralized networks such as blockchain, such as access to dApps using virtual currency wallets.
▶️Cryptocurrency Glossary
What is Stablecoin CNHC
Stablecoin CNHC will be released in 2021. It is intended for use in remittances and cross-border trade settlements, and is currently issued on Ethereum (ETH) and the Conflux blockchain, which complies with the regulations of the Chinese authorities.
According to Cham, the total supply is about 15 million tokens (worth 270 million yen). The current total supply of the offshore RMB stablecoin CNHT issued by Tether is about 20 million tokens.
CNHC has helped Chinese exporters trade with countries that lack financial infrastructure such as banks with stablecoins. Using CNHC and US dollar-denominated stablecoins USDT and USDC, it is said to have processed about ¥5.3 billion to ¥6.7 billion ($40 million to $50 million) in transactions each month.
CNHC said its presence in Hong Kong would require approval from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. There is also an obligation to submit an audit report upon request from the local government.
CNYC has already established a trust system for storing legal currency as collateral, as well as a framework for KYC (customer identification) and AML (anti-money laundering).
Circle’s venture division also invested
Circle Ventures and IDG Capital also participated in this round of funding. Circle Ventures is the venture division of Circle, Inc., which issues the USD-denominated stablecoin USDC. The investment amount was not disclosed.
Currently, most stablecoins are denominated in US dollars, and CNHC will also be an attempt to open up renminbi-denominated stablecoins.
