Plus, China continues its crackdown on cryptocurrency trading, and more

US government doesn’t want its businesses to work with Chinese phone companies [Reuters]

Lawmakers in the US are advising the country’s leading telecom provider, AT&T, not to do business with Chinese phone maker Huawei and telecom operator China Mobile, citing national security concerns.

These include collaboration with Huawei regarding 5G network standards and the use of Huawei phones by AT&T’s low-cost prepaid subsidiary Cricket.

The lawmakers are also said that any US companies who have commercial ties with the two Chinese companies would face difficulties doing business with the US government.

Just a few weeks ago, AT&T was forced to pull out of a deal to sell Huawei phones because of pressure from the country’s regulators and politicians. And earlier this week, a congressman from Texas called to ban the use of smartphones from Huawei and ZTE, another Chinese phone company, in government agencies.

China to accelerate crackdown on cryptocurrency trading [Bloomberg]

The Chinese government is cracking down alternative cryptocurrency trading platforms, in an effort to stamp out such activity.

It plans to block access to both domestic and international platforms for centralised trading. It will also clamp down on individuals and businesses who provide “market-making, settlement and clearing services” for such activity.

Since last year, China has been clamping down heavily on cryptocurrency trading. It has banned bitcoin exchanges as well as ICOs.

Vietnam’s startup Tiki secures funding from JD.com [e27]

Barely two months after raising US$44 million from JD.com, a major Vietnamese B2C e-commerce platform Tiki has secured another round of funding, co-led by the Chinese retail giant.

Vietnamese internet group VNG Corp. is the other lead investor in this round.

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JD will partner with Tiki in a range of areas, including merchandising, cross-border trade, logistics and fulfilment, technology, financing, and operational capabilities. Tiki and JD will co-operate to deliver a wider authentic selection, from global brands to consumers, while helping Vietnamese local brands in expanding internationally via JD’s global platform.

iQiyi has filed confidentially for US IPO [TechNode]

Baidu-backed iQiyi, a leading video-streaming service in China, has reportedly filed for a US$1 billion IPO, according to the IFR.

It plans to raise the money by the end of Q1 or early Q2 this year. Bloomberg had reported that iQiyi was planning to go public in the US, which could give the company a US$8 billion valuation.

iQiyi has raised about US$1.88 billion in funding to date. It also has around 481 million monthly active users as of the end of 2016 and has about 80 million paying subscribers.

It is the only Chinese video-streaming service that licenses content from Netflix.

Singapore adtech startup DREA raises undisclosed funding [e27]

Singapore-based adtech startup DREA has raised an undisclosed amount in pre-Series A funding, led by Investigate Network Capital and several other investors from the AngelCentral network.

DREA claims it enables small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to reach their target clients and audiences by running digital marketing campaigns in “4 steps, 60 seconds” using a mobile app.

The company does so by creating an ad, a landing page and by automatically optimizing the ad, including building in the most relevant targeting sets for the advertiser.

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