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China has made headlines by expelling Yao Qian, the former head of its central bank digital currency institute. He faces serious allegations of corruption related to cryptocurrency.
Yao was a key player in China’s blockchain scene. He was appointed as the first head of the central bank’s digital currency research institute. Recently, he was removed from the Communist Party and his public office.
The anti-corruption authorities stated that Yao “seriously violated discipline and law.” They claim he falsely presented himself as a financial technology expert. Allegedly, he supported certain tech service providers for his own gain.
Moreover, Yao abused his regulatory power. He reportedly engaged in power-for-money deals involving cryptocurrency. He is accused of illegally accepting an “extraordinarily large amount” of funds and assets. However, the authorities have not disclosed the exact amount.
Yao’s case has now been handed over to prosecutors for further investigation and possible charges.
Before leading the digital currency institute, Yao worked as the head of the technology regulation department at the China Securities Regulatory Commission. In April, he wrote an article titled “Warnings Mount Over Novel Bitcoin ETFs That Have Taken the U.S. by Storm” for Caixin, a well-known financial news outlet in China.
Born in 1970, Yao became the first head of the central bank’s digital currency research institute in 2017. He transitioned to the securities regulator in 2018. Yao actively participated in discussions about blockchain technology and even published a book in 2022. This book covered topics like DAO, DeFi, NFT, and X-to-earn. He emphasized that “Web 3.0 innovation has become a development direction that countries are highly concerned with and value” in the book’s foreword.