So China cryptocurrencies are getting really interesting there.
Get rid of it.
No, really, it's don't want it.
Are you sure?
I mean, blockchain technology is.
Oh, my God.
You have to see this blockchain thing I just made.
China.
Wow.
I mean, can you believe it's been a year since they banned crypto miners?
Investors, developers have all since been setting up shop elsewhere, understandably.
But as most of the rest of us have been trying to figure out how to use this technology,
China sort of looked like it was trying to pretend it wasn't happening or did it?
It turns out not so much.
In fact, it was very clearly worried about cryptocurrency, but has been working on its
own blockchain tech outside of that big surprise.
It's state backed.
It's called the blockchain based service network or BSN.
It's sort of the digital equivalent of China's Belt and Road Project, which is the country's
attempt to build huge infrastructure projects throughout the rest of the world to try and
help it with things like trade.
A key element of BSN is that it won't involve cryptocurrency.
Still, we know Beijing has said it doesn't like the environmental cost, it doesn't like
the potential for crypto being used by the bad guys.
So why are we telling you about this now?
Well, BSN have just launched its Spartan Network.
It's going to be compatible with a version of Ethereum among other global public blockchains,
but it still won't involve crypto.
It has, though, got the attention of some big names, including HSBC and Timmy Shen is
here to tell you more.
China is making sure it's not getting behind a curve.
The country state backed BSN Spartan Network, which is only available outside mainland China,
launched to support three public chains: Ethereum, Cosmos and Polygon Edge, all coming with non
crypto versions.
This is BSN's first major push outside the mainland with the aim to entice traditional
businesses worldwide to use blockchain technology using its non cryptocurrency based infrastructure.
So why the need for a non crypto blockchain based developer?
Red State Technology CEO Yifan He has this to say.
Until today, 99.999999% of all the IT systems in the world don't use public chains, and
99% of the application on blockchain is about cryptocurrencies.
That's a fact.
So why is such a powerful and beautiful technology?
No one wants to use it because the cryptocurrency and the embedded into the layer one, which
means that no matter how you want to use public chain, you have to hold cryptocurrencies.
And that cryptocurrency we consider as a speculative asset, which means, you know, the price is
up, up, up on the tongue.
You cannot use that into your, you know, your regular business scenario because it's too
risky.
Such a non-crypto feature has appeared to lure those that aren't necessarily happy with
crypto's volatility.
More than ten companies in Hong Kong are among the first adopters of the technology.
Among them are Hong Kong's Emperor Group, Lan Kwai Fong Group, Maxim's Group and International
Bank, HSBC.
Vincent Lau of HSBC Holdings is looking to explore how the RBS and Spartan could help
streamline payment processes for its business partners.
He added that the team has created a utility token called non tradable token or entity
for the RBS and Spartan Network to be used for gas fee payments.
Such entities can be purchased with fiat currency or Stablecoin USDC, which is indeed a cryptocurrency.
But He said such a stablecoin could offer anonymity.
Now, China is making blockchain a big deal, as the world's second largest economy is increasingly
showing its teeth to take on its Western counterparts by building its own infrastructure for Web3.
For one, the Shanghai Municipal Government clearly sees economic opportunities in Nonfungible
tokens and digital assets.
In a policy paper published in July.
Shanghai authorities wrote that they intend to support enterprises exploring a setup of
NFT trading platforms, asset digitization and digital ownership.
Specifically, the Shanghai government has set a goal of growing its metaverse related
industry to a total value of ¥350 billion, or about US$50.6 billion by the end of 2025.
The city also plans to set up a fund of US$1.4 billion to invest in the metaverse with the
government's strong support.
Market research firm IDC expects China's blockchain market to grow to US$3.2 billion in 2025 from
2020's US$468 million.
I'm Timmy Shen, Forkast.
All right, that's it from us for an abbreviated version of the Daily Forecast.
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