China’s “New Infrastructure” Initiative Creates Historic Opportunity for EOS and Voice. What’s Block.one Waiting For?

Throughout modern history, private sectors have shown to be capable of bringing new innovations into our society to benefit the people. Small groups of visionaries start these new frontiers with their own rules, then attract bandits who seek to break these rules for quick gains. As new frontiers mature, these landscapes will transform from the wild west to the land of law and order. Governments and the people will work together to bring sensible regulations to existence so the greater society can participate and humanity can move forward.

A New Era of Digital Economy

We are now in a critical time in history, where in developed countries the physical economy is peaking while the digital economy is accelerating. Technology companies analyze vast amounts of user data to build their extremely profitable empires. Facebook makes billions by offering a product that is free to consumers. Amazon knows their user behavior so well that brick and mortar competitors are now closing up shops. It is now understood that user data is very valuable, and governments are finding ways to establish regulation on data privacy and data ownership. The future is probably where digital data are highly liquid and traded at frequent intervals. But before this can happen, the rules of digital data have to be established.

China is Working on the Foundation of Digital Economy

China is making big moves in 2020 to lay the foundation for the new era of digital economy. In 2020 the Chinese government coined a new phrase called “新型基础设施建设”, which loosely translates to “ the new infrastructure”, which will be the infrastructure to serve the upcoming digital age. Blockchain technology is unsurprisingly within the scope of the new infrastructure, and not only that, blockchain is given the status of key importance at the national level, as existing industries should be digitized and the digital realm is expected to give rise to a whole new industry. China now plans to pour over 10 billion RMB into blockchain this year, and this budget will increase rapidly for the foreseeable future.

This April, the State Council of China released a document titled <关于构建更加完善的要素市场化配置体制机制的意见>. In this document, “data” for the very first time is being considered one of the 5 key factors of productivity, along with capital, labor, land, and technology. China is expected to take initiatives on laying the foundation for making data available to the public, defining data ownership, improving data protection, and accelerating data circulation. By elevating the importance of data and laying down the rules for data, China is gearing up for a new era of digital economy.

China also leads the world on the creation of sovereign digital currency. DCEP is now in pilot phase in Shenzhen and Suzhou. Chinese citizens in Suzhou are now using DCEP for transportation spending, and use case scenarios will expend to include medical and daily spending.

BSN is the New Internet Based on Blockchain Technology

Earlier this year, BSN Development Association released an introductory white paper for Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN). The document outlines the new internet infrastructure using blockchain as base technology. BSN will support multiple consortium and public blockchain protocols, including Hyperledger Fabric and EOS. BSN will be able to achieve inter-blockchain communication among the blockchain protocols it supports, and achieving a global presence and adoption is in the plan.

Block.one should Establish China Presence in 2020

The Chinese government is no stranger to EOSIO. The Blockchain Research Institute at CCID, a branch of MIIT of the Chinese government, consistently ranks EOS as #1 in its Global Public Chain Technology Evaluation Index.

2020 is the year for Block.one to establish presence and influence in the China region. As mentioned by Block.one executives multiple times, EOSIO is the ideal software to replace traditional databases. Block.one as the leader in blockchain software technology should participate in establishing the rules for data with the Chinese government. This new rule for data can then be adopted worldwide to replace many failing data related agreements among nations, such as the International Safe Harbor Privacy Principles.

Block.one should evaluate joining the BSN Development Association as BSN already plans to support EOS and is open to the new members. Block.one can be a valuable member in designing the next generation of internet that is based on blockchain technology.

Voice can and should be China Compatible

Voice social media, launched by Block.one should be designed compatible with the Chinese region. China has proven to be a region where multiple social media platforms can thrive together. Now that TikTok is ranked higher in downloads than Facebook and Instagram in the US App Store, it shows that to be popular an app in China doesn’t have to sacrifice the international markets.

A great misconception is that China doesn’t allow tokens. But if one studies the issue closer, one can design a great social media product with embedded tokens that is allowed in China. Many Chinese apps and platforms have their own currencies. A great example is Tencent’s QQ Coin. Voice team should design VOICE token to be compatible with Chinese regulation so everyone in the world can own VOICE and Voice can welcome everyone in the world.

Conclusion

China currently has the most blockchain patents in the world. China will lead the world in data and blockchain technology and adoption as it does with 5G and 6G technologies. Going forward, what China develops and uses, the rest of the world will either adopt or copy. With EOSIO highly praised in the China region, and China looking to build the new digital economy from the ground up, now is the perfect opportunity for Block.one to collaborate with the Chinese partners to build the future of tomorrow for the world.

About the author

Peter Chen is a cofounder of Moran, a blockchain consulting firm based in China. Prior to establishing Moran, Peter was the first China President at Leap Motion, a Silicon Valley technology startup later acquired by Ultrahaptics. Peter was also the Chief Strategy Officer of Leapsy, an AR hardware startup later acquired by Foxconn. Before moving back to China, Peter worked for Goldman Sachs at its NYC headquarter. Peter graduated from Columbia University and holds a master’s degree in Financial Engineering.