Financial Times: The global blockchain market is developing rapidly China may have more voice

Source: Financial Times

Author: Molly

With the development of social economy and the innovation of science and technology, the rise of the new technology of blockchain has brought tremendous influence to China and the world. As a general-purpose technology, blockchain technology is accelerating from the digital currency field to other fields, and is innovative and integrated with all walks of life. At present, the blockchain has attracted great attention and extensive attention from government departments, financial institutions, technology companies and capital markets in major countries around the world.

Blockchain industry penetration accelerates China's leading position in the world

Since 2008, Nakamoto has proposed the concept of blockchain, and the blockchain has gradually transitioned from the technical preparation period to the application exploration period. At present, the blockchain accelerates the extensive penetration of all walks of life, and continues to integrate and innovate in other fields such as finance, notarization, logistics, medical care, and government affairs, forming a good momentum of “blockchain+”. According to Coinmarketcap's statistics, as of the end of May 2019, there were 2212 digital currencies in the world with a total market value of $265 billion. Among them, Bitcoin has the highest market value, reaching 90% at the beginning of 2017. Later, due to the explosive growth of other digital currencies and the decline in bitcoin prices, the market value of Bitcoin declined, but it has remained at 50%.

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In recent years, the rapid rise of financial technology has provided innovative vitality for the sustainable development of the financial industry. As the most anticipated development direction in the current financial field, blockchain finance has applied a lot of applications in cross-border payment, supply chain finance, securities trading, and bills, showing great optimization of the financial industry. Financial giants such as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and UBS have set up their own blockchain laboratories, published blockchain research reports or applied for blockchain patents, and participated in blockchain startups.

The China Blockchain Development Report (2019) released in Beijing on November 16 shows that in recent years, with the continuous innovation of various blockchain institutions in China in technology, the number of blockchain patents in China has grown rapidly. More than the United States ranks first in the world. The "Blockchain Patent Situation White Paper (Version 1.0)" published by China Telecomtsu's official website shows that blockchain patents worldwide are mainly concentrated in China, the United States, Canada, South Korea and the United Kingdom. From the beginning of 2013 to December 20, 2018, China applied for 4435 blockchain patents, accounting for 48% of the total global blockchain patent applications; the United States applied for 1,833 blockchain patents, accounting for 21% of the world. %.

According to the statistics of the State Intellectual Property Office, as of March 31, 2019, the number of open blockchain patents in China was 4,351, and the number of patents published in the first quarter of 2019 was 2,041, a year-on-year increase of 5.4 times (the same period in 2018). For 317 items, the number of Chinese blockchain patents is likely to reach a new high in 2019. “The rapid growth of the number of patents in China's blockchains not only represents China's emphasis on and promotion of blockchain technology, but also indicates that China will have more international voices in the blockchain sector.” China Blockchain Development Report (2019)" is indicated.

In terms of the number of companies related to the industry, China's blockchain-related registered enterprises have leapt to the top, surpassing the global total. As of June 2019, there were 27,784 registered companies in the domestic blockchain. There are a total of 3071 registered companies in the global blockchain, of which, the largest number of blockchain companies in the United States, a total of 1,430; the number of blockchain companies in the UK is second, a total of 465; the number of Singapore, Australia, the Netherlands, Canada is similar However, there are 187 declines, 137, 100, and 98 respectively.

International blockchain system standards are missing. Different countries have different regulatory legislation.

Although blockchain companies have sprung up at home and abroad, there is no internationally recognized unified blockchain system standard from beginning to end. Many blockchain companies are also groping their own, which inevitably deviates from the blockchain. Drowning fish, disrupting the market, and profiteering.

Whether blockchain technology can really bring positive effects to society depends on the users of the technology and how it is used, and the regulation of the blockchain is also challenging. This kind of challenge is caused by two aspects: one is cross-border, taking the blockchain application of the financial industry as an example. Financial technology, internet finance and blockchain finance involve complex cross-border, and the regulators fail to fully clarify the blockchain. In the case of financial applications, poor regulatory methods, and backward regulatory techniques, it is easy to have a certain regulatory vacuum. Second, decentralization, all transactions under blockchain technology are anonymous and cannot be banned. Open, but can not be effectively supervised, the solution of this problem depends on the continuous upgrading of regulatory means.

Experts said that from the international experience of blockchain legislation, the development of blockchains in the mainstream countries of the world has its own characteristics, but countries generally choose to apply legislation on various types of blockchain-based applications, rather than directly targeting the districts. The blockchain itself is subject to legislative restrictions. In the legislative practice of various countries, countries pay more attention to the application of blockchain to the financial sector or the application of blockchain with partial financial attributes.

For example, Japan has specifically enacted virtual currency and introduced a registration system to regulate virtual currency exchanges to regulate the potential money laundering and terrorist financing risks of virtual currency exchanges and protect the legitimate rights and interests of users. The UK is one of the first countries in the world to establish a “regulatory sandbox” system. It allows many financial innovations to conduct experimental specific practices within specific small-scale markets to observe specific effects. The application test of blockchain is “ The internal control of the sandbox is regulated and the FCA (Financial Behavior Supervision Authority) gradually implements compliance under the supervision and guidance of the effectiveness of the sandbox test. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is based on the US Federal Securities Act to characterize the issuance of virtual currency using the blockchain as the underlying technology, and rigorously supervises the Howey Test standard established by the Federal Supreme Court.

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