In a move that was not much of a surprise, China’s Cyberspace Administration approved the operations of 197 blockchain technology companies to have complete authority to operate within the country. This included some global powerhouses in this industry, including Tencent, Alibaba, and Baidu. Notice of this approval came on March 30.
According to the report, these first 197 companies are just the tip of the iceberg. The Cyberspace Administration is also looking for other companies providing services and operations that fit a criteria for licensure, but who have “not fulfilled the filing procedures should apply for filing as soon as possible.”
China has already established themselves as the international leader in blockchain projects. It is clear that the Chinese government would like to become the leaders in this technology, and that’s why they are moving so quickly to not only get big-name companies on board who have become pioneers in this industry, but also seek to have the largest number of companies designing and implementing blockchain technology platforms.
The move became essential after a wave of unregulated initial coin offerings (ICOs) were beginning to become regular practice in China over the last few years. The Chinese State Internet Information Office created a series of regulations that were implemented in February, which also established the need for approval before businesses could begin operations.
Three of the big game players who have gained approval have already established themselves as some of the world’s leading companies in blockchain innovation. In April, Tencent announced that they were developing a new blockchain technology that would not only improve their current services, but which had also become one of the most aggressive plans in blockchain platform development to date.
Alibaba was already creating blockchain technologies to protect supply lines from fraud or hacking. They had first developed the use of this technology in March 2017 in an attempt to track food that was going across international borders. Food fraud was becoming an ever increasing concern of the Chinese government, and it was believed that this technology would help to remove potential fraud.
Baidu had developed technology that enabled them to be able to block cryptocurrency related articles on their app. This was an extremely sophisticated set of code that was written using blockchain technology to accomplish the task.
These companies had already been granted provisional licensure to be able to operate within the borders of China, but now had been given official licensing to continue to do so. The other 194 companies joining them cover a wide array of the business spectrum, including the China Zheshang Bank as well as other financial institutions.
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