Key Takeaways
- Yao Qian accepted significant sums of crypto in return for political favors.
- China’s digital yuan CBDC is still in the pilot phase across 29 areas of the country.
- The PBOC has begun rethinking its approach to crypto since Donald Trump’s election victory.
One of the Chinese government’s most influential financial technology figures has been found to have received large sums of cryptocurrency, amongst other bribes, and engaging in high levels of corruption.
China’s Crypto Corruption
According to local media outlet The Paper, Yao Qian, one of China’s key figures in the development of its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), has been removed from his position in the government after an investigation—which began earlier this year—found that he had been engaged in corrupt activities.
“Upon investigation, it was found that Yao Qian had abandoned his original mission, was not political, coveted fame, regarded himself as a financial technology expert, spared no effort to support specific technology service providers for his own selfishness,”
As per the report, the former director of China’s Science and Technology Supervision Department of the China Securities Regulatory Commission had received huge sums of cryptocurrencies in exchange for his far-reaching power.
The report notes that he leveraged his far-reaching regulatory powers to draw “improper benefits,” receiving highly valuable gifts and banquets, appointing people to positions of power, illegally borrowing money, and accepting “extremely huge” amounts of “property.”
The People’s Communist Party of China (PBOC) has deemed this a “serious duty violation” and has expelled Yao Qian from the party. Following additional research, Qian’s situation has been escalated to a criminal case.
Qian’s Influence
Qian took the Chinese government’s flagship CBDC project, the e-CNY, under his wing back in 2017 after becoming the head of the Central Bank’s Digital Currency Research Division. Under Qian’s leadership, China made significant progress in developing the e-CNY, and his efforts then spilled over into blockchain research.
He became an advocate of Web3, pushing his research into areas such as decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), amongst other innovations. Seemingly, his mission was to prepare China for the pending Web3 era, and through his foresight and comprehensive approach, he became China’s foremost pro-blockchain official.
Unfortunately, investigations into his conduct began earlier this year when reports emerged in April 2024 that Qian was violating Chinese law amid a broader anti-corruption crackdown.
Eddie is a gaming and crypto writer at CCN. Covering the often weird and wonderful world of Web3 with an adoring, but skeptical eye.
Prior to CCN, Eddie has spent the past seven years working his way through the crypto, finance, and technology industry. He began with PR and journalism with Bitcoin PR Buzz and BitcoinNews.com, eventually working his way to become a copywriter with a dozen firms, including the likes of Polkadot before returning to journalism in 2023.
Having studied Radio production and journalism at University in the UK, Eddie spent a few years making podcasts and presenting on a local London radio station as he built up his writing chops.
A lifelong skateboarder, Eddie can often be found at the skatepark or touring the streets looking for something new to try. That, or kicking back playing JRPGs on his original PSP.
