Media: Chinese authorities have no role in compiling the global cryptocurrency ranking

The global cryptocurrency ranking published by China’s Centre for Information Industry Development (CCID) is not affiliated with regulators and is the private opinion of a consulting firm. Librehash reports this.

The publication cites a series of tweets by the well-known crypto advocate from China, Ben Yorke, on February 28, 2019. In private communication with a CCID representative he learned that the organization is a structural unit of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China (MIIT), but this does not make it an official mouthpiece for the government.

2. He was very clear that being an affiliate doesn’t make them an official mouthpiece, and that the rankings were independent. There are 150,000 state owned enterprises in china, all of them could decide to throw out a list of whatever they wanted — doesn’t mean anything

— Ben Yorke (@BenYorke) February 28, 2019

“The curator made it very clear that the rankings are independent. In China, there are 150,000 state-owned enterprises, all of them could publish any ranking they want — that means nothing.”

Ben Yorke also noted that the CCID index does not include all crypto assets and this may indicate its bias:

3. He also mentioned VET opted out of the list. Ask yourselves, why would independent rankings require “opting in”? Why wouldn’t an honest ranking system just list everyone? Unless there was some sort of personal incentive (Fee, perhaps?) for listing.

— Ben Yorke (@BenYorke) February 28, 2019

“I was told that VeChain was removed from the list. Why do independent rankings require ‘inclusion’? Why wouldn’t an honest ranking system simply list everyone? Unless it has some personal incentive or a listing fee.”

The government’s ties to the ranking are dubious also due to its negative stance toward cryptocurrencies.

5. Cryptocurrency investors, more than anyone, need critical reasoning skills. Believing random rankings from China that claim ties to the central government is foolish — we all know the government’s position on digital currencies, they aren’t big on public chains + currencies

— Ben Yorke (@BenYorke) February 28, 2019

“It’s foolish to believe random rankings from China that claim ties to the central government, given the authorities’ stance on digital currencies,” wrote York.

To back up Ben Yorke’s claims, Librehash cites a number of Chinese government initiatives in the crypto market:

• the prohibition of ICOs in 2017;
• the tightening of restrictions on cryptocurrency usage and the blocking of 124 foreign exchanges in 2018;
• the owner of major Chinese social network Tencent deleted all cryptocurrency-related information in August 2018;
• China openly noted the effectiveness of crypto-currency restrictions;
• a ban on travel for Huobi and OKCoin executives;
• monitoring cryptocurrency miners and restrictions on electricity supplies.

Which firm publishes these reports?

The company behind the cryptocurrency ranking is SaidiWang or CCIDNET.

On its official site the following statement is published:

“The CCID Blockchain Research Institute is a special organizational unit widely used across analytical centres, associations and research institutions. Blockchain enterprises together with industry regulators promote the technology to expand real-economy opportunities.”

According to Librehash, this statement further indicates the independence of the rankings from the Chinese government. The publication adds that without official denials of the evidence cited by Ben Yorke, any reference to the government publishing cryptocurrency rankings should be regarded as fake news.

Plans to compile monthly rankings of 28 popular cryptocurrencies emerged in May 2018.

The Global Index for Evaluating Public Blockchain Technologies ranks projects along three main aspects: foundational technology, practical value and originality.

Since then, 19 reports have been published. In the latest lead cryptocurrencies EOS, Tron and Ethereum.

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