China squeezes bitcoin mining and trading

China has taken another bite out of bitcoin’s potential, stepping up restrictions on cryptocurrency mining and ordering banks to block crypto-related transactions. The news drove bitcoin’s price 10 per cent lower to a two-week low today.

China’s central bank warned several of its largest state-owned banks and Jack Ma’s Alipay to “investigate and identify” bank accounts facilitating cryptocurrency trading and block all corresponding transactions, reports our Beijing bureau.

It had called in the Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank and ICBC among others to discuss “providing services for cryptocurrency transaction speculation”. The regulator wants the financial groups to identify and block all transfers to accounts held by cryptocurrency exchanges and other offshore middlemen. The central bank is steering citizens towards using its own digital currency, which it has started testing in large-scale pilots.

“Bitcoin trading in China will continue but become less liquid, and spreads will increase,” said Leo Weese, co-founder of the Hong Kong Bitcoin Association. “People will limit themselves to trading with their friends and trusted friends-of-friends.”

Elsewhere, officials in all of China’s hubs for mining operations followed Inner Mongolia and released further measures targeting bitcoin creators. Sichuan, a hydropower-rich province in south-west China, has ordered the 26 largest local mines to stop operating while an investigation is carried out. Sichuan was seen as a last resort location for mining operations pushed out of provinces that rely on coal-fired power plants for electricity.

Meanwhile, the central banker overseeing the European Union’s development of a digital euro has been speaking to the Financial Times about its advantages. Fabio Panetta, an executive board member at the European Central Bank, told us it would boost consumers’ privacy and protect the eurozone from the “threat” of competing cryptocurrencies that could undermine the bloc’s monetary sovereignty.

The Internet of (Five) Things

1. German regulator launches Apple probe
Germany’s antitrust watchdog has launched a probe into whether Apple has established market dominance through its “digital ecosystem”, making it the fourth US tech giant the agency has targeted this year. The Federal Cartel Office said on Monday it would look at whether Apple exerted market dominance through its integration of hardware products with digital services such as the App Store, iCloud, or Apple Music. Meanwhile, Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s head of digital and competition policy, has rejected the idea that its forthcoming Digital Markets Act (DMA) will only target American tech companies.

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2. Tech investor says UK still in 19th century
A “deep sickness” in UK capital markets has stifled the growth of homegrown tech entrepreneurs and left London’s blue-chip FTSE 100 looking like an index from the 19th century, according to James Anderson, joint manager of Baillie Gifford’s Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust. His early bets on Facebook, Amazon and Tesla have made him one of the world’s most successful investors.

3. Volvo and Northvolt to build gigafactory
Volvo Cars and Northvolt will set up a joint venture to build a new battery gigafactory in Europe and develop energy cells for the Swedish premium carmaker and its electric-only sister brand Polestar. Northvolt, Europe’s great battery hope founded by former Tesla executives, is backed by investors including Volkswagen and Goldman Sachs and valued at about $12bn.

4. Malaysian mobile megamerger
Malaysia’s Axiata and Norway’s Telenor have agreed to merge their mobile operations in the south-east Asian country, creating a $12bn entity that will seek to capture rising demand for digital services. The deal, announced on Monday, comes two years after the pair abandoned plans to merge their regional operations in a deal that would have created the biggest telecoms operator in south-east Asia.

5. Ackman Spac invests in music catalogues
A blank-cheque company backed by hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman is to buy a 10 per cent stake in Universal Music Group, Taylor Swift’s label, for $4bn. The deal is the first of its kind for a special acquisition company and comes as music catalogues soar in value.

Tech week ahead

Monday: Activision Blizzard faces a contentious vote on its chief executive’s $155m pay package after delaying the showdown in what critics say was an effort to avoid an embarrassing rebuke.

Tuesday: Amazon’s two-day Prime Sale ends.

Wednesday: The new UK £50 note enters circulation and features Alan Turing, one of the UK’s greatest scientists, on his birthday. Masayoshi Son, SoftBank chairman and CEO, will address the company’s annual meeting amid rising calls for share buybacks after the company recorded a $45bn net profit for the year to March 31.

Thursday: Microsoft unveils its “next generation of Windows” at an event presented by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and chief product officer Panos Panay.

Friday: Days after an independent investigation found that Toshiba executives colluded with Japan’s trade ministry to pressure shareholders over their votes at last year’s general meeting, investors will gather again to elect a new board of 11 directors.

Tech tools — Angell e-bike

The Angell e-bike has élan, which seems appropriate given its French design and origins. It is sleek, stylish and one of the lightest bikes of its kind, weighing in at 15.9Kg. I was able to test ride it recently and relished the surge from its three power-assisted settings — the battery-saving Fly Eco, a regular Fly Dry mode and a Fly Fast one for maximum assistance. The handlebars have integrated buttons that switch between those power modes and turn the left and right indicators and the front and rear lights on and off. A central cockpit display links to your smartphone using Bluetooth and shows speed, battery life, time, distance, weather conditions, and power settings.

I had some quibbles with the battery, which slides on to a rear rack and sometimes became disconnected when riding, unless I kept the key in it so it was fully locked. If you leave the battery off the back for a few days when charging it, the central cockpit console can lose its own charge and curtail any power-assisted rides. I would also prefer a smartphone mount in the centre rather than have both an Angell app and the console screen. Like other smart e-bikes, the Angell has the ability to send a fall alert via text to a chosen contact, as well as automatic locking, motion sensing and geolocation features. It is another £2,000-plus e-bike, costing £2,600, compared to the new Cowboy 4 at £2,290.