SHENZHEN, China, Nov. 25, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- On the afternoon of November 18, BlockData released China Blockchain Patents Report 2019 and the Comprehensive Strength list of China's Blockchain Patents 2019. Alibaba ranked first in the list, while OneConnect and China Unicom took second and third place, respectively. In an accompanying ranking by strength ofblockchain patents specifically in the fintech field, OneConnect topped the list, followed by Ping An Technology, Hangzhou Fuzamei Technology,Launch Tech, Baidu, Tencent Technology and WeBank. In order to comprehensively demonstrate the strength of all companies having obtained blockchain patents, the list is based on an analysis that takes into consideration five factors: the number of patent applications, the number of patents granted, the scope of patent protection, the location in the patent family and the application for the patent.

Just prior to the launch of the list, the top two performers, Alibaba and OneConnect, had issued IPO prospectuses in Hong Kong and the United States and were receiving substantial attention from capital markets.

On the evening of November 13, Alibaba submitted a preliminary prospectus that appeared on the website of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK), announcing a plan to issue 500 million new ordinary shares worldwide and list on the main board of the exchange. If Alibaba successfully launches an IPO in Hong Kong, it will bethelargest-ever such transaction inthe Hong Kong market. Alibaba will also be the first Chinese Internet company to be listed in both Hong Kong and New York. Based on Alibaba's prospectus, as of June 30, 2019, the company held 6,175 authorized patents and 13,336 publicly filed patent applications in China. Elsewhere, the company held 3,112 authorized patents and 9,742 publicly filed patent applications.

On November 13, OneConnectformally appliedfor anIPOwith the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According to the prospectus, as of the end of September 2019, the company has applied for 2,850 domestic patents and 542 foreign patents. OneConnect topped the list in the accompanying ranking by strength ofblockchain patents specifically in the fintech field released by BlockData. OneConnect'sblockchain solution FiMAXhas been implemented in the Chinese government's super vehicle management office as well as in solutions for supply chain finance, trade finance, small and medium-sized enterprise loans, intelligent environmental protection, mortgages, drug traceability and electronic medical records spanning five key sectors: finance, smart city, real estate, automotive and healthcare.

SOURCE OneConnect

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Alibaba and OneConnect take the top two positions in Blockchain Patents list and file IPO prospectuses on the same day - PRNewswire

Anyone in the world can create a digital token or assets. The Formula 1 is doing things a bit differently, although the approach is rather intriguing.

As part of its new auction and contest, participants can win Ether and licensed digital collectibles.

The Pole Position Auction contest is the first of its kind.

Non-fungible tokens for all 10 team cards will go on auction.

According to the website, five different levels of rarity of racing cars will exist.

All of these tokens going live during this auction are of Epic rarity.

Users participating in this event will be able to win prizes by predicting the order of sale for these cars.

It does not cost any money to participate in this event, which is rather interesting.

Prizes include F1 Delta Time Car Gear and Ether.

This new blockchain-based game makes use of the ERC-721 and ERC-20 standards accordingly.

As is the case with blockchain collectibles, the ultimate goal is to collect and trade as many assets as possible.

It is not the first time companies decided to create non-fungible tokens that serve as collectibles either.

Most of the ventures focusing on this aspect have not been able to captivate big audiences, unfortunately.

Considering how this an officially licensed Formula 1 product, the venture may attract a lot more attention.

It is intriguing to see major sports franchises such as the Formula 1 take this approach as of late.

Engaging fans can be done in different ways, yet digital collectibles appear to be the way to go from this point forward.

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Digital Formula 1 Collectibles are Coming to the Ethereum Blockchain - The Merkle Hash

In an age where fears of fake news and misinformation run high, folks are brainstorming ways to increase transparency regarding data and technology.

An increasing portion of the tech community believes the solution lies with blockchain technology, and Santa Barbaras first ever Blockchain Summit, held Saturday at UCSBs Corwin Pavilion, provided a platform where proponents and doubters shared their ideas.

What exactly is blockchain? It is a chain of cryptographically signed blocks of data, and each block represents individual transactions. The chain can be distributed across different linked computers and cannot be tampered with. Some describe blockchain as open source technology because it can be analyzed by any user whose access is not controlled by a central figure of authority.

Blockchain gained popularity after the global financial crisis exploded in 2008. Peoples trust in banking institutions declined and cryptocurrencies began to be thought of as a way to avoid another financial crisis.

In the past decade, however, blockchain has been used beyond the cryptocurrency world. In Switzerland, a blockchain project is being used for voter registration. The Chilean government has begun using the technology in the energy sector, specifically regarding energy usage. Even border control may soon be using blockchain in the Netherlands. Proponents of blockchain believe that the open source nature of the technology will increase transparency of information in a society.

Julian Wheatland who served as CEO, CFO and COO of the now defunct political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica reflected on how his former company could have benefited from this type of open source technology and ethical compliance.

This whole question of ethical compliance is really underserved in terms of the way that we think about (how) businesses manage technology. And we should put a lot more effort into coming up with a structure or structures that allow companies to set up their store, seen very clearly and publicly what their ethical position is, and then set up processes inside the company in order to adhere to that ethical position, said Mr. Wheatland.

He continued that a degree of open source effort should be involved.

I would probably take that a stage further, said Mr. Wheatland. And I would say, and then invite other people to audit those processes in order to provide reassurance to the outside world that those processes are being adhered to.

But Mr. Wheatland drew a clear line between auditors and regulators.

What I didnt say was that the outside world should tell the company what it should do. The reason I didnt say that is that there is a role for regulation framework and that should say what companies can and cant do, but its only a framework, said Mr. Wheatland. Regulators will always be late to the party. Theyll always be regulating something that happened two years ago.

Mr. Wheatland speaks from the experience of witnessing Cambridge Analytica face regulators for activities they conducted years prior.

In 2018, the Federal Trade Commission opened an investigation into whether or not Facebook whose users Cambridge Analytica was collecting information on has violated privacy laws. The app Thisisyourdigitallife, through which the information was collected, however, was created in 2013, translating to a five-year period between the launch of the information-harvesting app and the launch of the investigation.

A short version of Cambridge Analyticas history along with Mr. Wheatlands roles in the company unfolded with the questions of blockchain journalist Rachel Wolfson, who interviewed the tech executive Saturday.

Equipped with hindsight, Mr. Wheatland outlined the importance of transparency, honesty and management beyond existing regulations.

We ought to be able to see transparently what companies are doing with our data, he said.

Mr. Wheatland also shared with the News-Press some tips for internet users concerned about their informations safety.

One way to avoid sites from harvesting information is using different browsers, Mr. Wheatland told the News-Press. He was referring to the open-source browser Otter and Opera, which comes with a free virtual private network service that makes connections to websites more secure and difficult for websites to track users. Search engines like DuckDuckGo also aim to protect users privacy.

Mr. Wheatland did encourage that folks first analyze their level of concerns.

Theres a generational difference, said Mr. Wheatland. A group of university students, for example, may not have problems with sharing personal data to get relevant advertisements, while other age groups may not be as eager. Assessing the level of concern will help you determine which measures you are willing to take to protect information.

Another tip Mr. Wheatland shared with the News-Press was the use of a browsers incognito mode, which is also referred to as private browsing. This mode, although not perfect, stops cookies (small pieces of data) from being stored on a users computer.

Clarification: The article previously described Opera as open-source.

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Tech industry leaders, including former Cambridge Analytica exec, gather at UCSB to talk blockchain technology - Santa Barbara News-Press

Singapore-based blockchain firm BCB Blockchain has signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with a branch of the Philippines Department of Science and Technology (DOST) to support the development of local smart cities.

Per a Nov. 23 press release, BCB Blockchain contributed $300,000 to support incubators and startup accelerators in the Philippines by signing an MoA with the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEETRD).

The joint initiative intends to facilitate the development of local startups focused on the creation of smart city projects and applications. Additionally, the company has reportedly partnered with a range of local educational establishments to provide its expertise and contributions to research and development, promotional activities, hackathons, collaborative endeavors and other projects for smart city or blockchain development. Douglas Gan, CEO of BCB Blockchain, said:

By providing DOST, universities and TBIs the resources and technical knowledge that BCB Blockchain has, we expect them to deepen their competencies in the area of designing and developing applications and projects for smart cities. We will guide and provide them the access to hands-on workshops, funding, materials, events and technical support.

This summer, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) of the Philippines signed an MoA with United States-based blockchain firm Monsoon Blockchain Storage, wherein Monsoon was set to act as a blockchain consultant and advisor to DICT, offering services such as cost-benefit and socio-economic analyses regarding blockchain solutions in the Philippines.

In the meantime, Philippine Senator Grace Poe said that local lawmakers should not be in a hurry to pass financial technology regulation. Poe stated:

To most of our countrymen, this is alien to them, but in fact some of them have been availing of it through online lending. And without the proper information and education, a lot of them are actually victimized.

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Philippines and BCB Blockchain to Work Together on Smart Cities - Cointelegraph

The Chamber of Industry and Commerce of Munich and Upper Bavaria, Germany, will issue its first blockchain-enabled training certificates next spring in cooperation with the Digital Ministry. In the future, employers will be able to determine whether the certificates are genuine with the help of an electronic key.

According to a press release from Nov. 20 from the Minister of State for Digital Affairs, employers will use an electronic key to verify the authenticity of certificates using blockchain technology.

The Digital Ministry will create a web application that enables companies to verify the authenticity of certificates using blockchain-based hash values. Applicants can send the key with a PDF file to the companies, after which a file upload of the key on the web application will purportedly allow immediate verification.

Digital Minister of the Free State Bavaria Judith Gerlach said, This offers a huge advantage for both applicants and companies. The authenticity of certificates can be checked in just a few clicks. This is a kind of digital quality seal Blockchain, Made in Bavaria.

According to Gerlach, if blockchain technology proves itself reliable, the Free State of Bavaria could also issue blockchain-secured school and university certificates in the future, adding:

"The certificates are a first step for the concrete use of blockchain in administration and can theoretically be extended to any type of document, whether a certificate, deed or contract. We want to launch more practical applications soon.

In June, Cointelegraph reported that a Canadian tech institute issued blockchain-based diplomas to the graduating class of 2019. More than 4,800 graduating students of the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology received blockchain-based degrees along with their traditional parchments.

Similarly, this September, the Swiss University of St. Gallen partnered with Swiss blockchain startup BlockFactory and will use its certification solution to create immutable diplomas that are registered on the Ethereum blockchain.

Additional reporting by Veronika Rinecker

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Bavarian Government to Issue Blockchain-Based Training Certificates - Cointelegraph

NEW BEDFORD Are the fancy scallops on the menu really from the North Atlantic?

Reports of mislabeled fish have left some diners wondering if their snapper is really snapper. But with the help of digital data, one New Bedford seafood company has no trouble proving the provenance of its scallops.

Captain Dan Eilertsens Nordic Inc. is working with a Fall River fish processor, tech juggernaut IBM and a California restaurant company to use blockchain technology to track scallops from ocean to table.

Just scan a QR code on your restaurant menu and see exactly where the scallops were caught, when, and by whom.

This is going to be a good way of sustaining our fishing industry and showing people that you can trust where your food comes from, said Eilertsen, a longtime fisherman and owner of six scallop boats.

One if his vessels, the Venture, is equipped with IBM Food Trust, which creates a permanent, shared record of data about where food comes from and where its been. At every step along the way, people enter data into the blockchain.

On board the vessel, scallops get shucked, washed, bagged and weighed. A printer spits out a label with a QR code that goes right on the bag.

By the time Eilertsens scallops arrive at the participating restaurant in this case, TAPS Fish House and Brewery in southern California customers can use their smartphones to view the entire chain of custody. They can see the GPS coordinates of the catch and trace its journey.

From New Bedford, the scallops go to Raw Seafoods in Fall River, where they get packed and frozen. From there, they get shipped to West Coast distributor Santa Monica Seafood, which sends them to the restaurant.

Raw Seafoods started thinking about tracing the origin of food last year, after the produce industry experienced a serious E. coli outbreak linked to romaine lettuce, according to Dan McQuade, the companys vice president of marketing.

The company knew the seafood industry had its own problems to solve, he said. A report released in March of 2019 by the conservation group Oceana revealed that 21 percent of the 449 fish the organization tested were mislabeled. One out of three establishments was selling mislabeled fish.

We have a food safety issue as well, McQuade said. We have fraud thats rampant in the seafood industry, and we have the fear of fish.

He said American consumers love fish, but they eat far less of it than beef or chicken, owing in part to the ambiguity about whence it comes.

Raw Seafoods learned about what IBM was doing, and the two companies sat down and created a business model that would work for fish.

At the same time, Eilertsen was looking for a way to brand his scallops. He felt like he was doing everything right, but nobody knew about it, according to McQuade. And he never knew where his scallops went.

So the fishing captain and the tech giant got connected, and the Venture became the first fishing vessel to use IBMs Food Trust platform.

Representatives from all of the companies involved, including the California restaurant, gathered on Fish Island on Tuesday to show off the technology aboard the Venture. Afterward, they were headed to a celebratory dinner at Merrills Waterfront.

Suzanne Livingston, director of IBM Food Trust, said blockchain allows each party in the supply chain to submit information and control its own data. No other party can edit the data or change any of the records. IBM links the information across the entire supply chain.

"So you know discretely that this lot of food, or this batch of food, came from this distinct source," she said. "And thats traceability at its core."

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Tracking New Bedford scallops from ocean to plate, with blockchain - SouthCoastToday.com

Custody bank Northern Trust is testing the trading of fractionalized bonds on a blockchain.

Working with Singapore-based debt markets company BondEvalue, the bank is providing asset servicing for large, high-grade bonds that will be tokenized and divided for retail investors on Hyperledger Sawtooth. These bonds arenormally too large for individual investors, but the quality of the bonds is attractive.

The move shows Northern Trusts continued interest in the technology after it developed thensoldits private equities blockchain, which shortens the time to market for new high-tech private equity funds. With $124.3 billion in assets, Northern Trust is the 24th largest bank in the U.S.

Were building capabilities we feel will be reusable across multiple asset classes and multiple jurisdictions, Justin Chapman, global head of market advocacy and innovation research at Northern Trust, said of the new bond pilot. Our focus on this initiative is to help bring the exchange to life and then we offer the highest grade asset servicing capability in that digital environment.

Through the Monetary Authority of Singapores Sandbox Express, BondEvalue was given permission to launch a blockchain-based bond exchange in Singapore. Northern Trust will custody tokenized bonds and conduct transactions with the regulators oversight.

If the pilot is successful, the bank plans to also participate in the development of BondEvalues business model.

Northern Trust image via Shutterstock

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Northern Trust Testing Fractionlized Bonds on Blockchain - Coindesk

Blockchain expert Dr. Mary Lacity,director of the Blockchain Center of Excellence at the Walton School of Business at the University of Arkansas,said increasing deployment of blockchain in businesses will coincide with ashift in how blockchain is presented to executives.

How are wegoing to approach messaging with the C-suite, she told the audience at theBlockchain in Transport Alliances BiTA Symposium Chicago at McCormick Place on Nov. 14, 2019. They dont want to hearabout blockchain, they want to hear about value.

Lacityspoke shortly after BiTA President Patrick Duffy opened the one-day symposiumfor BiTA members. Im expecting a big 2020; we will really accelerate thingsnext year, Duffy said. He noted that several proof of concept projects will beannounced next year and pointed to real-world implementations that arebeginning to take place.

The BiTASymposium provided updates to members on the organizations progress towarddeveloping blockchain standards for the supply chain. Use case presentationswere shown to attendees, and several speakers provided expertise on smartcontracts, legal consequences and more at the event.

FollowingDuffy, Dale Chrystie, chair of the BiTA Standards Board and business fellow andblockchain strategist at FedEx, encouraged members to get involved in technicaland working committees, where much of the behind-the-scenes work takes place.

Its astrong and enthusiastic group, he said. I thank you very much on behalf ofthe board.

Lacityfollowed Chrystie, and after a brief overview of the University of Arkansasblockchain programs including the fact that 27 out of 30 graduate studentsentering the Walton School of Business this summer chose the blockchain track explained the challenges blockchain faces at the C-suite level. She said that aresearch project found that of 36,000 10-k filings examined, only 242 mentionedblockchain or distributed ledger technology.

OurC-suites are getting really fatigued by blockchain, so we have to shift theconversation to the value it provides, she said.

Lacityencouraged the audience to stick to the longer vision of blockchain. In hisremarks, Chrystie took notice of those that have abandoned blockchain at thispoint, believing it is more hype than reality. Im actually okay that peopleare [getting out], he said. That is leaving the rest of us to get it built.

Lacity drewconnections between blockchain in the supply chain and Bitcoins evolutionsince its introduction in 2009.

When wemove to shared ecosystems, you are not going to have control over the data,she said, so we have to create shared governance. All of us start off withcentralized governance because there is real value in centralized governancebut you cant stay with centralized governance. If you have 10 nodes withcentralized governance, then you dont really have a blockchain use case.

Bitcoinalso started with central governance, Lacity pointed out. But now anyone cansubmit a change and the community debates it and eventually the miners decidewhether the update [will be made].

Many earlyblockchain projects in the supply chain are currently based on centralizedgovernance, she added.

Dan Conway,associate director of the Blockchain Center of Excellence, said that standardsfor data, rules and processes are critical to blockchains success.

I actuallythink standards are kind of fun because I get to talk to smart people aroundthe world who want to overlay [artificial intelligence] over blockchainsolutions, he said.

Conwaypointed to virtual road signs that determine which car should enter anintersection first as a use case for blockchain. Another, he said, involvesconnected cars in which one car makes a cryptocurrency payment to pass a slowermoving vehicle. In commercial trucking, drivers could potentially becompensated for safe driving in real time.

Dr. KiranGarimella, chief scientist and chief technology officer at KoreConX, said any blockchain platform needs to focus on businesses, noneof which are an island by themselves, and all of which have ecosystems ofcustomers and suppliers.

Its aboutunderstanding the ecosystem, he said. Where are the pain points and how doyou add value?

Ipersonally feel that this industry transportation is ripe fortransformation, he added.

The morningsession concluded with a case study about how Accenture is using blockchain toimprove safety for its female workers in India.

JoshCartellone, senior manager-Industry X.0 for Accenture Digital, said that only23% of the workforce in India is female, but more importantly, 53% of womenfelt unsafe getting to and from work; 82% left work early to reduce their riskof being assaulted, and 91% feel the government is not improving public safety.Over a four-year period, there was a 39% increase in reports of rapes,Cartellone said.

To helpimprove its workers safety, Accenture partnered with BetterPlace, a backgroundcheck company, to produce the Safe Driver program. The program places extensivebackground checks of drivers onto a blockchain that includes facial recognitiontechnology. Drivers applications and background checks are verified byAccenture, and this information is made available to employees using theservice. The result is that 90% of Accentures female employees felt safer whengetting to work and there was a 76% increase in riders in the program, whichexisted prior to the deployment of blockchain.

We didntchange anything; we didnt change drivers; we just added this so riders feltsafer, Cartellone said.

Cartellonesaid a worker could easily be replaced by cargo and the system would operatethe same.

Wouldntwe want to know as customers that our equipment is being used correctly duringthe entire trip? he asked. It all starts with identity it is the identityof people, of equipment of Internet of Things devices.

Cartellonesaid that, among the supply chain, this type of blockchain system could workwith driver scorecards, licensing, facility access, health checks of people orvehicles, work authorization, work history, driver logs, equipment status, andcargo status or condition.

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Blockchain conversations need to focus on value to get C-suite buy-in - FreightWaves

China's relationship with blockchain's offspring of cryptocurrency is troubled, to say the least, but it's making big developments in the sector

November14, 20195 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Blockchain is revolutionary, malleable technology - and China knows it. The Asian superpower accounts for 25 per cent of new blockchain projects worldwide and holds the most patents related to blockchain in the world. Further, some of the biggest names in the blockchain and cryptocurrency community are Chinese firms - and this dominance is not by accident.

The Chinese government has included its development in the nations 13th Five-Year Plan and, last year, President Xi Jinping said China seeks to lead in innovation worldwide. Lets examine Chinas approach to the technology and the applications being created in this ecosystem.

Chinas relationship with blockchains offspring of cryptocurrency is troubled, to say the least. The nation is one of the biggest miners of digital currency and yet actively makes the use of such crypto illegal. Nonetheless, China is making big developments in this sector regardless of legal status.

For example, the Peoples Bank of China announced in August that after five years in development, it is ready to launch its own digital currency, although no date has yet been set. This is an ambitious project which demonstrates the nations desire - like other aspects of Chinese life - to centralize power and oversee control.

It remains to be seen what this virtual currency looks and acts like, but experts believe it will likely have little to do with cryptocurrencies that have gained global popularity up until this point. The currency is predicted be supervised at two levels - with the Peoples Bank of China above and the countrys commercial banks below - to adequately manage distribution over such a large economy.

So, why is China doing this? There are two theories. The first is to generate digital currency that is immune to fluctuations and speculations that is so often seen in traditional crypto. The second comes back to control. If China is the issuer, they are also the controller. National virtual currency issued and distributed by the government would allow for transaction traceability and work to avoid payments on the black market.

Chinese blockchain is more than currency, however, as the country continues to be a hot-bed for national and international projects. Just look at Chinese technology giants and internet companies who have already started building their own blockchain ecosystems and projects in finance, logistics and supply chain.

For example, one project looks to provide a flexible and efficient platform for various business applications and scenarios. It provides blockchain 3.0 with a powerful network throughput and high concurrency processing capabilities for smart contracts.

Another project with similarly lofty ambitions looks to build the cornerstone of trust for the digital economy. This project endeavours to become value connectors for enterprises and institutions to jointly promote the development of value internet. This autonomously controllable blockchain infrastructure could be a game-changer in the years to come.

Further, foreign companies are becoming more comfortable with Chinese blockchain partnerships. Walmart is partnering with JD.com, IBM, and Tsinghua University on a collaboration to enhance food tracking, traceability and safety. Working with food supply chain providers and regulators to develop the standards, solutions and partnerships to enable a broad-based food safety ecosystem in China, JD has launched its food tracking chain.

Lastly, Central and Eastern European Countries teamed up with China in August to form the China-CEEC Blockchain Centre of Excellence. The project goal is to become a leading research and innovation centre for distributed ledger technology to be applied in industrial applications across numerous verticals such as energy, finance, aerospace, manufacturing, logistics, commerce, media, government and others.

So, where is this going? And what does this mean for the rest of Asia and the world?

As of 2018, there were263 China-based projects in progress. Meanwhile, there are 615 blockchain companies or subsidiaries already in China with most having launched in the last two years. This includes projects from Chinese internet giants Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent.

In fact, one in two Chinese respondents told Deloitte their company used blockchain as part of 2018 global blockchain survey - in stark contrast to only 14 per cent in the U.S. While blockchain is mainly used in financial services in China, other industries, such as public services, healthcare, supply chains, are experimenting with the technology.

In China, it's obvious that any wide use of blockchain means government oversight. Blockchain in this part of the world removes those romantic ideas of the technology giving power back to the people. An idea like this is naive in China. Nonetheless, China does see its value and appears to be getting ahead of the technology by creating useful products which are under the lock and key of the central system. Time will tell what this means for user rights and personal freedoms, but there is no denying that the Asian superpower is likely the biggest developer of blockchain tech and applications right now.

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Everything You Need to Know About Blockchain In China - Entrepreneur

A Chinese mobile phone user in Shanghai, China.

Qi Yang | Moment | Getty Images

China, once seen as an imitator when it came to technology, is now looking to take the lead in areas from blockchain to artificial intelligence (AI), much-hyped technologies that are seen as critical to the future.

Despite the U.S.-China trade war, experts say the world's second largest economy will continue pushing its domestic technology sector.

The future of AI, blockchain, financial technology and smartphones will be among the topics discussed at East Tech West CNBC's technology conference held in the Nansha district of Guangzhou, China.

Here's a look at what China is doing in some of the key technology areas.

Artificial intelligence is a broad term for technology that makes machines mimic human intelligence, for example, in recognizing images or speech.

U.S. and Chinese tech firms are pumping a lot of money into developing AI, and both countries have launched their own national strategies around it.

In 2017, Beijing laid out plans to become the world leader in artificial intelligence by 2030, with the aim of making the industry worth 1 trillion yuan ($147.7 billion).

China has rolled out AI uses, such as facial recognition technology, on a large scale. The U.S. is seen as having the lead, however, when it comes to research and development.

"On AI, China is implementing the technology very fast in facial recognition, speed recognition, self-driving vehicles, smart cities and medical diagnoses," Rebecca Fannin, author of "Tech Titans of China," told CNBC.

"The US still has the lead on R&D in AI, but China is catching up with the tech titans in AI as well as numerous well-funded startups such as Face++, Sensetime and iFlytek."

"China is closing the technological gap with the United States, and though it may not match U.S. capabilities across the board, it will soon be one of the leading powers in technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI)" and other technologies, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) said in a recent report.

In China, financial technology is booming. Global investment in fintech ventures more than doubled in 2018, to $55.3 billion, with China accounting for around 46% of that figure, according to Accenture.

The country is home to some of the world's biggest fintech firms such as Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial which runs the popular Alipay mobile payments app.

Mobile payments or paying with a scanned code on your phone is one area in which China has led the way. Alipay and Tencent-owned WeChat Pay can be used all over the country from big department stores to street stalls.

Cash is dead in China. So are credit cards.

Rebecca Fannin

author of "Tech Titans of China"

But these services are also known as "superapps" because within the platform, users are able to get other products from micro-loans to wealth management products. They have provided a way for Chinese consumers to bypass the banks, to some extent.

"China's mobile payment market is most advanced in the world. Alipay and WeChat Pay are two tech titans in this space," Fannin said. "Cash is dead in China. So are credit cards."

Henri Arslanian, chairman of the Fintech Association of Hong Kong, said that technology firms have been driving innovation in financial services, something he calls "techfin."

"What's been really interesting for us, is that the real innovation from a 'techfin' perspective happened not only in Silicon Valley, but really happened here in Asia, in China in particular," Arslanian told CNBC in an East Tech West preview show.

"For many banks around the world, when they want to see what is the disruption coming ahead, what can really disrupt their business, they don't look at Silicon Valley now, but they rather look at China and Asia."

But Chinese fintech has often moved faster than the regulators. Now regulators are putting frameworks in place to have a better grasp on what's going on to help China maintain a leading position in fintech.

Earlier this year, the China's central bank issued a 3-year "fintech development plan" with the aim of making China the world leader in fintech.

Chinese firms are now some of the biggest in the world. Three out of the top 5 smartphone vendors are Chinese with Huawei sitting at number two.

Chinese smartphone-makers have for years been accused of copying the likes of Apple when it comes to smartphone designs. But in the past couple of years, they've begun to push the boundaries on handset innovation.

"Many Chinese vendors get plagued with reputations for being copycats. And while some of that is valid, what gets overlooked is how much these same vendors are oftentimes ahead of the rest of the industry in areas like cameras, screens, and charging," Bryan Ma, vice president of devices research at IDC, told CNBC.

Ma pointed to devices like Xiaomi's Mi CC9 which has a 108-megapixel camera and other devices from the company which have edge-to-edge screens.

Blockchain's first major application was for the cryptocurrency bitcoin. It's a so-called decentralized ledger of transactions that cannot be tampered with and it underpins bitcoin.

But the meaning and uses of the technology has evolved. It's now being trialed and used by various industries from finance to the food industry.

China has thrown its backing behind the technology. According to state media, President Xi Jinping said that China has a strong foundation and should look to take a leading position in the technology. He reportedly said China should "seize the opportunity" offered by blockchain, adding that the technology could benefit a range of industries including finance, education and health care.

Edith Yeung, managing partner at blockchain-focused venture capital firm Proof of Capital, said Xi's remarks shows China's determination in the sector.

"It's clear China wants to lead the world's standard for blockchain technology," Yeung told CNBC. "China is a really government-driven country."

5G refers to next-generation mobile networks that promise faster data speeds and low latency. The latter refers to the quicker speeds at which data arrives from the time it is summoned. This is key to underpin technologies like driverless cars which cannot afford any lag in data.

A number of countries such as South Korea and the U.S. are rolling out 5G networks, while China recently turned on its 5G networks ahead of a previously-announced 2020 timeline.

5G is set to play a key role in technology development moving forward but it is also a highly-politicized issue.

The U.S. has tried to convince countries not to use equipment from Chinese firm Huawei in their 5G networks. Huawei is the world's largest telecommunications gear maker. The U.S. says that Huawei is a national security risk because its hardware could be used by the Chinese government to spy on citizens. Huawei has repeatedly denied the claims.

Still, China is on track to becoming the biggest 5G market in the world.

The country will account for the largest number of 5G connections by 2025, more than North America and Europe combined, according to mobile industry body GSMA.

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China throws its weight behind A.I. and blockchain as it aims to be the world's tech leader - CNBC

From accounting procedures to shipping logistics, blockchain technology is already making its way into various sectors as part of the wave of technological disruption happening in all corners of the globe. Known as the underlying technology that powers cryptocurrencies, blockchain is separating itself as its own force to be reckoned with.

The technology is already being praised for its uses in keeping confidential data secure and as more uses for blockchain develop, it may just become standard fare. HSBC Singapore is already using the technology for fixed income security usage.

Per a HSBC press release below:

HSBC Singapore announced a trial with Singapore Exchange (SGX) and Temasek to explore the use of distributed ledger technology (DLT) for the issuance and servicing of fixed income securities, the first such end-to-end digitalization initiative focusing on the Asia bond markets.

While Asias fixed income markets continue to see rapid growth, bond issuance and servicing processes remain inefficient due to the absence of a single platform for the exchange of information between multiple parties and tracking of a bond throughout its lifecycle.

The trial will make use of tokenized securities and smart contracts over a permissioned ledger to streamline these workflows and reduce process friction, lowering costs for issuers, investors, bond arrangers and custodians.

Tony Cripps, Chief Executive Officer at HSBC Singapore, said:The potential of DLT is an evolving story, and its role in overcoming inefficiencies in the fixed income market is yet to be seen. Only by collaborating with market participants will we fully understand its actual viability; by partnering with SGX and Temasek, we hope to explore whether digital assets could become a reality.

Lee Beng Hong, Head of Fixed Income, Currencies & Commodities at SGX, said:As Asias largest listing venue for bond issuers globally, we are excited to collaborate on a new operating model that could potentially bring cost savings to issuers, arrangers and investors. Having HSBC and Temasek on board will enable us to evaluate holistically whether smart contracts and DLT can solve some of the long-standing challenges in the fixed income issuance ecosystem.

Chia Song Hwee, President & Chief Operating Officer at Temasek, said:Blockchain technology has great potential in transforming businesses and opening up new opportunities. We are pleased to partner with HSBC and SGX on this test-bed, with an eye on how the technology can potentially be applied more broadly across a range of products. Such partnerships and initiatives allow us to advance the impact of emerging technologies and better understand how economies can benefit.

For more market trends, visitETF Trends.

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Blockchain Technology Hits the Fixed Income Markets - ETF Trends

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TORONTO, Nov. 14, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Blockchain Foundry Inc. (BCF or the Company) (CSE:BCFN)(FWB:8BF)(OTC:BLFDF), a leading North American blockchain development firm, has been nominated as Blockchain Company of the Year by the Fifth Annual Canadian FinTech & AI Awards in Toronto. The winners will be announced at the award ceremony on November 18, 2019.

"It is an honor to be nominated as one of the top blockchain companies in the country. Over the past several years, we have worked hard to successfully bring innovation to the blockchain space and beyond. This year we rolled out new technology that allows for instant and scalable blockchain transactions. This means that enterprises can enjoy the cost-saving benefits of blockchain technology without compromising on speed and scalability. We are also working on creating links between promising blockchain projects, including our upcoming Syscoin Bridge which will allow Ethereum projects to benefit from our scalability and throughput innovations, said Dan Wasyluk, CEO of BCF.

BCF will be competing with other Canadian blockchain companies for the top spot in the category of Blockchain Company of the Year. Presented by The Digital Finance Institute, the Canadian Fintech & AI Awards celebrate Canadian innovation in 16 different categories, hosting over 3,000 attendees from the banking, legal, finance, tech, startup and blockchain communities.

About Blockchain Foundry Inc.

Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Blockchain Foundry (CSE:BCFN)(FWB:8BF)(OTC:BLFDF) is a global blockchain consulting and development firm. BCF develops and commercializes decentralized ledger technology, custom blockchain solutions and smart contracts for enterprise clients.

Blockchain Foundry Contact Information:

Christopher MarshPresident (647) 330-4572cmarsh@blockchainfoundry.co

THIS NEWS RELEASE IS INTENDED FOR DISTRIBUTION IN CANADA ONLY AND IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISSEMINATION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES.

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Blockchain Foundry Nominated as Blockchain Company of the Year - GlobeNewswire

The issue of blockchain technology has been fairly nonpartisan on Capitol Hill - until recently. The importance of determining policy on cryptocurrency in the House Financial Services Committee became high when Facebooks Project Libra appeared to threaten the power of the U.S. dollar. In D.C., when an issue becomes conflated, it means that two ideas have been combined into one. When Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) stated, during the SEC Oversight hearing, about the Libra cryptocurrency, she then asked what the SEC was doing about the whole blockchain phenomenon.

The theory goes that if cryptocurrency and blockchain are thought of as the same thing, then regulations on crypto might also apply to the technology. Additionally, were the U.S. to authorize any study or provide a grant for blockchain technology, should this concept be equated to using taxpayer dollars to launch an ICO, might mean that an investment in blockchain technology would be eliminated in the process.

And so, in what might need to be called the Pre-Libra Era, Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Ranking Member Patrick McHenry (R-NC), had co-sponsored H.R. 3407, the Export Finance Agency Act of 2019, with a proposal for a survey of U.S. Exporters benefitting from the use of blockchain in their operations, including their management of supply chains, contracts, and payments. In the Post-Libra Era, and also as a direct result of the Democrats and Republicans failing to compromise on this bill, Chairwoman Waters introduced a brand new bill, H.R. 4863, also called the Export Finance Agency Act of 2019, with 22 of her fellow Democrats co-signing the bill.

What had been removed from the bill? Besides the sponsorship of Ranking Member McHenry (R-NC), the survey on blockchain is no longer part of the bill. So, why is this important when other more pressing issues such as how the SEC will view tokens are on the minds of entrepreneurs working on the technology? While this appears nuanced, the bill would have required the Export Import Bank to conduct a survey on the impact of blockchain technology for five years in a row.

Similarly, in the current debate on whether a Central Bank Digital Currency that is issued by China would end up leaving the U.S. in the dust, if there is not advocacy for the research and development of blockchain technology in the U.S., we will get left behind. And, for the man whose company started all this, Mark Zuckerberg, is the oracle of this possible future as he testified to the Committee that, U.S. dominance in tech is not preordained.

What is unfortunate is that, if this bill makes it way through the Rules Committee at 5pm today and then is addressed on the floor of Congress, the deletion of these policy matters due to their inherent dangers - and because Members of Congress have conflated cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. Lets hope that soon - and perhaps with one degree greater than hope - take action to ensure our policymakers can differentiate between a cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.

Blockchain, Technology, Connected, Business, Concept

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Congress Cuts Blockchain Technology Survey Out Of Export Finance Agency Act Of 2019 - Forbes

Mr Lucas Landolt, Head of Operations of Llyod's & Partners AG shared some use cases of Blockchain in the financial sector which may be applied to central bank infrastructure. In particular, Lucas also mentioned about the power of Blockchain-based Anti Money Laundering (AML) platform that utilizes smart contracts, which can automate the process of fraud detection in AML applications.

Mr Victor Vu, Head of Research and Development of CSE Technology, shared about the vision of CSE to apply Blockchain technology to daily life, especially through applications that help small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) as they are backbones of the economy in many countries, especially in the emerging economies of South East Asia.

SMEs are crucial to economic and social developments, employing a significant part of the workforce and contributing to a country's national income. However, SMEs often face challenges of having limited access to bank loans, trade finance, or alternative financing. Another major challenge for SMEs is in the adoption of new technologies in digitalization due to their small scale.

According to Victor, the aim of CSE is to help SMEs solve their existing challenges, grow their business, and even help some SMEs go global -- through the application of Blockchain technology. The third-generation Blockchain technology developed by CSE helps SMEs build trust, obtain peer-to-peer funding, and execute their business processes with better efficiency and security.

Victor highlighted on the power of Blockchain in offering Smart Contract. He disclosed that the new generation Smart Contract 2.0 tool running on CSE 3.0 Blockchain technology has been successfully applied to 62 open-source projects across 16 industries. Key projects include: SmartAgri which was initially launched in Vietnam and would soon be expanded to other markets; iCare Base healthcare program which was launched in Thailand; and Owifi project which was recently launched in Thailand and Vietnam.

At the same time, CSE is also identifying business opportunities from new innovation programs with the objective of building an international ecosystem of young innovators in the region in new technologies, particularly in Blockchain.

Furthermore, to help increase Blockchain's adoption by SMEs across more sectors as well as non-profit organizations, CSE will soon collaborate with "Children Are Innocent", a charity organization based in Singapore. CSE will offer the organization a Blockchain-based smart contract platform that allows donors to access data, and provides transparency on deployment of charity fund. This will help them build trust and encourage more donors to contribute to the charity fund that provides medical care and other support to needy children in the region.

About CSE SG

CSE SG is a company established in Singapore. Its has developed a proprietary CSE 3.0 technology that creates an improved Blockchain platform with breakthrough features including the application of encryption technology, Blockchain foundation, Blockchain pool 3.0, Smart Contract 2.0, artificial intelligence, internet of things, and supernode cloud. CSE 3.0 has been applied to applications in traceability of products; encrypting and management of information, and retail payment at very low cost, super fast speed and even with no internet connectivity, across a number of sectors, including: healthcare, agriculture, wifi marketing, charity organizations, education, supply-chain management, banking, and other industries.

About Smart Contract 2.0

Blockchain ensures immutability, security and transparency, while Smart Contract allows for intelligent execution. A Smart Contract not only defines the terms and conditions around an agreement in the same way that traditional contracts do but also automatically executes and enforces those pre-agreed terms and conditions, eliminating the need for middlemen. The new-generation Smart Contract 2.0 is a powerful, yet user-friendly tool built on the revolutionary, super-fast CSE Blockchain 3.0 platform, featuring multi-contractual conditions and multi-industry applications.

To create your smart contract: http://smartcontract.cse30.io

SOURCE CSE SG Pte Ltd

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Blockchain Technology Empowers SMEs to Grow and Go Global - PRNewswire

BlockShow Asia 2019 hosted some big names today for a panel on blockchain scalability. All the speakers agreed: people have to choose between scalability and decentralization.

The panel included Max Kordek, CEO at Lisk; Matthew Tan, founder of Etherscan; Saranya Sriram, technical lead at Microsoft Azure; and Xinxi Wang, co-founder of Litecoin Foundation. It attracted a large audience for such a super-technical discussion.

Speaking about the difficulties of scaling a blockchain to the next level, Kordek said that blockchain scalability is a tradeoff. You cant simply scale a blockchain for free. This is why I always laugh when I hear about projects promising 50,000 transactions per second.

Xinxi agreed, pointing out:

At Litecoin, we always choose decentralization and security over scalability. Unfortunately we cant do both, but we try to find something in the middle.

The sentiment was echoed by Matthew Tan, who added that there is no reason to pursue infinite scalability:

First of all, we need to define what scalability means. Are we talking about infinite scalability? There is no reason to do that. We need to go for the happy medium, so then we can scale and have decentralization and security granted.

Besides the relevant subject and the strong opinions expressed, the panel didnt get much engagement from the audience on this niche topic. At the end of the panel, no one had any questions for the speakers.

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Blockchain Technology Faces a Tug of War Between Scalability and Decentralization - Cointelegraph

Those seeking employment in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry have reason to be positive, says employment search company Indeed.

The number of bitcoin, blockchain and crypto-related employment ads in shares per million on the popular job listing site rose by 26 percent from 20182019, following a four-year trend of 1,457 percent growth in the sector, according to a Seen by Indeedstudy released Thursday.

On the other hand, sector-specific job searches dropped 53 percent over the same period, following a longer downward trend, the firm found. Enthusiasm among job hunters peaked during the height of the crypto bull market in late 2017, which saw bitcoins price reach an all-time high of around $20,000, but has gradually tailed off ever since.

Zooming into the detail, this years top five sector jobs being posted by employers all revolve around computer work, with software engineering, software architect, full-stack developer and front-end developer being the most common positions.

The top 5 employers listing blockchain jobs are Deloitte, IBM, Accenture, Cisco and Collins Aerospace, coming in 1st through 5th, respectively. Big Four firm Ernst & Young joinsDeloitte in the top 10.

Cryptocurrency and blockchain industry firms Coinbase (7th place), Overstock.com (8th) which has as subsidiaries blockchain accelerator Medici Ventures and security token platform tZERO Ripple (9th), Circle (11th), Kraken (12th) and ConsenSys(13th) all make the list. Banks JPMorgan Chase, which is developing its own stablecoin, and crypto-company-friendly Signature Bank tail in at 14th and 15th.

Intriguingly, telecoms giant Verizon comes in in 10th place according to Indeed, the sole mobile company to make the rankings. While the firm has made blockchain investments and applied for a patent related to the tech. its not made any major announcements in the space.

Indeed says it expects the number of jobs on offer to continue trending up through 2020, even in the face of extreme price volatility and regulatory uncertainty of cryptocurrency.

Job hopefuls image via Shutterstock

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Crypto and Blockchain Jobs Have Increased By 26% Since 2018: Research - CoinDesk

Much like the internet, the rise of blockchain gives individuals and organizations the chance to achieve vast improvements in productivity. In my experience, blockchain can improve transactional processes among individuals, companies, suppliers and legislators to create more scalable, efficient solutions.

The Appeal

Blockchain is valuable because it can provide security to the underlying data, allowing companies to significantly reduce the cost of trust and collaboration, things that are often expensive for businesses.

In a Harvard Business Review article, experts discussed how blockchain offers a distributed ledger that can record transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way. It is designed to be immutable, meaning that once a piece of information goes in, it cant be changed. With the database being stored in numerous locations, if a hacker or a bad actor were to modify one of the databases, the tampering would be detected through cryptography.

Beyond the attention-grabbing headlines, blockchain technology is increasingly sparking research and development among enterprises. Across numerous sectors, new opportunities are surfacing to reduce costs, streamline processes, improve data tracking and security, increase safety and mitigate fraud.

Real-World Application

In supply chain management, companies are already using blockchain to track items through complex supply chains. Everledger, a London-based startup, is using blockchain systems to help eradicate blood diamonds that are mined through child labor and operations funding drug lords. The company has developed a platform that tracks origin and ownership changes along the supply chain and recently secured $20 million in funding.

Reducing counterfeit products is a major concern for many large brands, especially within the fashion world. The global market for counterfeit clothing amounts to an incredible $450 billion, and blockchain offers a clear solution. If items are registered on the system, manufacturers and suppliers can provide data about the products origins, records and chain of ownership. Tagging assets on a blockchain can give buyers confidence, knowing that their item is authentic.

Companies are also considering blockchain and other technologies to streamline and innovate within the auto industry. Solutions are emerging to address issues with vehicle-to-vehicle communication, cashless payments at highway tolls and automotive insurance. A specific case within the industry highlights the need to objectively measure vehicle value. Beijing Mercedes-Benz Sales Service recently partnered with a blockchain-based used car value management platform to help understand the value depreciation of its cars and automate the process in real time.

Within the financial services sector, blockchain activity has been advancing for a number of years. RBC, JP Morgan, Citibank, American Express, Visa and MasterCard are among the long list of enterprises conducting multiple blockchain-related efforts. Central banks are also following suit: A recent white paper from the World Economic Forum describes several use cases and how central banks are using blockchain technology to address long-standing issues within the industry, such as financial inclusion and payment efficiency.

Weighing Your Options

In spite of these exciting applications, blockchain isnt necessarily the answer for everyone. Blockchain and decentralized technologies enable data robustness and integrity and eliminate the need for intermediaries. However, they can also have certain disadvantages when compared to more centralized databases and systems.

In some cases, security vulnerabilities have given certain blockchain applications, such as smart contracts, a bad reputation and slowed enterprise adoption. In order to unleash its potential, security issues need to be addressed. Additionally, some technologies are unready and untested for large-scale enterprise implementation.

So how can companies test the waters and determine if a blockchain solution is right for them? I suggest conducting small, low-risk experiments to understand the full potential of blockchain for your organization.

Pilots are a great place to start. They are often less complex to implement and provide a starting point for companies to assess and expand once more information is known. Explore, hypothesize, make mistakes, observe and, if a pilot proves successful, be prepared to scale.

What's Next

The examples above highlight just a few of the industries being impacted by blockchain solutions. From pharmaceuticals to food safety, there is enormous potential for enterprises to reinvent the way they operate and get ahead of the competition. We can create efficiencies and solve problems that we havent been able to solve previously with other technology, leading to substantial competitive advantages.

Even with all these existing use cases, we're still at an early stage in this industry. As blockchain technology becomes more mainstream, I expect further investment in blockchain education and R&D. I believe that this will, in turn, createunprecedented opportunities for growth.

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How Blockchain Is Helping The World's Biggest Companies Innovate Securely - Forbes

American logistics giant UPS has successfully delivered a blockchain-verified beef shipment from the United States to Japan. The company partnered with agritech firm HerdX to incorporate its packaging technology into a blockchain network to trace the journey of beef from Kansas to Japan, the firm announced on Nov. 11.

As announced by UPS, the jointly-delivered shipment involved a blockchain partner network developed by HerdX. Meanwhile, UPS provided its visibility tool that integrates with HerdX's blockchain technology and records live updates, registering details throughout the journey.

The pilot was supported by the United States Embassy in Japan and was announced at a special dinner event in Tokyo, UPS stated.

The steak reportedly left Kansas on Nov. 4, after which it arrived at a steakhouse in Tokyo where guests including U.S. Embassy and Japanese officials were able to scan QR codes to access data about the foods journey.

UPSs blockchain initiative is not the first time blockchain has been used to track meat. In November 2018, the South Korean government announced it will use blockchain for tracing beef to provide consumers with more data about its supply chain. In March 2018, Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com implemented blockchain tech to monitor meat from a farm in Australia.

In late 2018, UPS chief engineering and information officer Juan Perez said that he did not expect any significant benefits from the implementation of blockchain technology.

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UPS and Agritech Firm Use Blockchain to Verify Beef Shipment From US to Japan - Cointelegraph

Drama this week will forever be recorded on the blockchain. Millions of dollars worth of funds are due to be contested in the courts, following allegations of criminal misconduct against the Canadian based Einstein exchange.

The British Columbia Securities Commission levied a charge against the company, investigating claims that it had misallocated and misused customer funds. Lead investigator, Sammy Wu tried to enter the exchange's offices, but nobody would pick up the phones, and the elevators were locked to all floors.

Wu was able to piece enough together to bring a case against the exchange, and the courts will put Wu's findings to the test. If Wus case goes through, Einstein could owe customers more than $16 million.

In another high profile legal spat, Bitcoin Manipulation Abatement LLC has filed a $150 millionlawsuitagainstcryptoderivatives exchangesFTXand trading firmAlameda Research LLCwhich shares its CEO with FTX. The lawsuit, filed Sunday and amended Monday, alleges that the CEO and multiple employees twice unsuccessfully tried to manipulateBitcoinprices oncryptocurrency exchange Binance.

Alameda Research took to Medium to trash the "nuisance suit", saying it was riddled with laughable inaccuracies, including mistaking the entire business model of Alameda. The troll has no evidence of any wrongdoing, and will not further discover anybecause there was no wrongdoing to discover evidence of. To be decided in the courts.

In China meanwhile, the country has caught blockchain fever after China's President, Xi Jinping urged the industry to accelerate the development of blockchain technology. Per the presidents speech late last month, blockchain is a key breakthrough that can facilitate Chinas progress in core technologies. In the wake of the President's proclamations, the price of Bitcoin rose by 24 percent the next day; stocks in blockchain-companies skyrocketed; and the China Communications Industry Association suggested that October 24 be forever celebrated as Blockchain Day.

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That lead to China's government, long presumed to have taken a hostile stance against cryptocurrencies, to declare the country's huge crypto mining industry is, indeed, safe. The countrys government-controlled economic planning agency recommended not to phase out the industry, despite putting it on a list of industries not to be encouraged six months agowhich led to a widespread belief that it would inevitably be banned.

A new report from the International Data Corporation subsequently showed that the blockchain industry in China is booming. Though trailing behind Europe and the US, the report predicted that Chinese businesses would spend $2 billion on blockchain by 2023, and that they'd already spent $319 million this year. Our European friends meanwhile spent $674 million, and our US friends spent $1.1 billion.

The Bank of China's insurance arm launched an insurance blockchain system this week, according to Decrypt own reporting of, er, Sina Finance's own reporting of, er, Bejing Business News' reporter, Men Fanxia Li Yujie. But, if the Chinese reporters (and Google Translate) got things right, then the China Banking Insurance Information Alliance Chain, built on Hyperledger Fabric, is used to store insurance policies in one place. By the end of September, the insurance company had accumulated more than 4 million electronic insurance policies.

But before you start breaking out the blockchain-backed champagne, China isn't pro blockchain in all the ways. In an article that run in the People's Daily this week, it said using blockchain to store and spread illegal information, for illegal transactions like money laundering, should be severely punished.

Other governments have been kind to crypto; this week, cryptocurrency exchange giant Binance, once known for running from governments, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine. Ukraine, which recently hired a new pro-crypto minister, wants Binance, the privately run cryptocurrency company, to help it work out how best to serve its citizens. Per Binances press release, Binance will help the Ukrainian government develop transparent and effective mechanisms for crypto sales, and beneficial conditions for investments and business in Ukraine. The working group hope to present something to the Ukranian parliament before the year is out.

This week also saw the end of the feud between the House of the Zcash Foundation and the House of Electric Coin Company, who spent several busy months this year working out how to handle Zcash trademark. The Electric Coin Company held the trademark, but handed it over to the Zcash Foundation. Yet there were several terms and conditions attached: Zcash now have to maintain the trademarka lengthy and costly affairand if Zcash ever, ever go[es] against the clear consensus of the Zcash community, the Electric Coin Company will step back in charge. And both parties must agree on any network upgrade that is intended to create the new consensus protocol of Zcash. If they cant agree, then the chain splits and neither implementation neither the new one nor the existing onecan be called Zcash.

Read the rest here:

This week in crypto: China, Canada, and Ukraine on the blockchain - Decrypt

Two European multinationals have been working together with the IBM Food Trust platform. Today, Nestl and Carrefour announced that customers will be able to check the authenticity of a range of baby milk formula products using blockchain technology.

The IBM Food Trust platform is based on Hyperledger technology. According to its official website, the blockchain solution is intended to allow customers to verify the origin or authenticity of products, leading to greater transparency across the supply chains using it.

Following a successful pilot allowing customers to access blockchain data about Mousline pure, the two multinationals have announced a second product to the service. Using their smartphones, customers will be able to scan a QR code and find information about Guigoz (C) Bio Two and Three infant formula, two baby milk formula products.

According to a report on Yahoo France, representatives of the two companies recently spoke about the greater transparency brought to the product lines using the system. They commented on the ease with which customers could access information about where products originated and confirm that what they are buying is indeed genuine.

Following the April pilot, Vineet Khanna, Senior Vice President of Global Head Supply Chain at Nestl, said:

We are using this technology to bring more transparency to our products by providing accurate, trusted and impartial information. That will benefit the whole value chain, including retailers and consumers.

Although the cryptocurrency Bitcoin was the first successful application of the blockchain, the technology is rapidly finding use cases in other industries. So far, it is mostly being adopted as a means to provide greater assurances of the authenticity of a product or material. However, BeInCrypto has previously reported on efforts by the likes of the New York Times to use the technology to improve the standards of reporting in the journalism industry.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

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Nestl and Carrefour Are Putting Baby Formula on the Blockchain - BeInCrypto