Bitcoin Daily: Ping An’s FinTech Arm Teams Up To Launch Blockchain Solution; CFTC Calls For Default Ruling For Alleged Ponzi Scheme Founder

OneConnect Financial Technology and China Merchants Port Group (CMPort) will work to create a blockchain-based system with Shenzhen customs to serve the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

The program will pull in data from Chinese custom services, port operators, logistics companies, financial institutions and export and import firms, and will aim to make financial matters more accessible and offer a better, cheaper tracking system.

The system will include five databases to keep track of trade companies, goods, logistics, contracts, and documents and certificates, and will help manage trade and reduce the time it takes to complete tasks related to those matters.

Xiaoying Chen, director of Shenzhen Customs, said the project was in-line with state expectations to study the use of blockchain for cross-border applications.

OneConnect is the financial arm for Ping An Insurance, the largest insurer in China. It is also one of the four FinTech “unicorns” being cultivated by Ping An, which is a state-backed group. It was backed by SoftBank in a Series A round for $7.5 billion in 2018, and went public on the New York Stock Exchange last year.

The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is requesting a default in the case of Benjamin Reynolds, the currently missing alleged founder of ponzi scheme Control-Finance.

Reynolds reportedly oversaw the operation, which misappropriated at least 22,858 bitcoin from over 1,000 customers from May of 2017 until last July when the complaint was filed.

But numerous attempts to locate Reynolds since then have been futile, and he has not responded to requests from investigators.

The operation supposedly made funds from the trading operations of its expert employees, but actually diverted newly-invested funds to older investors, which maintained a smoke-and-mirrors illusion of profits coming in.

Control-Finance allegedly set up a pyramid scheme around an affiliate program promoted on social media — but in September 2017, the website and all other internet presence were wiped from the web ,and the firm did not continue making any payments. The firm claimed it would return customer funds, but allegedly was in the process of liquidating the bitcoin for around $147 million.