Bitcoin Daily: China Expands Digital Cash Pilot; California Bill Defining Digital Assets Moves Forward

China’s Ministry of Commerce is moving forward with its plan for a digital currency, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

The plan will come with a large number of cities in which to test the currency, including Beijing and the provinces Tianjin and Hebei in the north, the Yangtze River Delta to the south, and the Guangdong province and the neighboring cities of Hong Kong and Macau along the country’s prosperous southern coast, WSJ reported.

The project’s policy design is set to be complete by the end of the year, although there’s no set date for when the expansion will begin.

In addition, the less-wealthy parts of China, in the central and western areas of the country, will have a chance at trials for the digital currency if they meet the program requirements, WSJ reported.

The move comes as numerous places around the world look into digital currencies for official business, including the state of California, as it moves ahead with a digital asset bill, Assembly Bill 2150.

According to a report by Cointelegraph, the bill passed by the state Senate Banking and Financial Institutions committee, which is looking to define digital assets and analyze their impact on the state and consumer protections.

The bill originally set out to distinguish digital assets from securities.

Now, with an update, it also wants to direct the Department of Business Oversight to look into how treating them as securities for a little while would impact consumer protections, benefits to the state and what the minimum requirements would be to enact the new changes.

In other news, the Association of Cryptocurrency Enterprises and Start-ups Singapore (ACCESS) has rolled out an official Code of Practice, to help standardize the industry and aid players in meeting regulatory compliance, according to a press release.

Part of the Standardisation of Practice In Crypto Entities (SPICE) initiative, the ACCESS’s new code will help industry players looking to apply for a license by providing regulatory guidance.

In addition, the Code of Practice makes a more standard approach to dealing with issues of money laundering and terrorism, the release stated, along with know your customer (KYC) best practices, and other issues important to crypto-asset and blockchain companies.