Interview with Babbitt 丨 5 ​​years of exploration, 4 new products, 3 principles, the landing of Hang Seng Electronic Blockchain

On December 19, Hang Seng Electronics held the "i BLOCK CHAIN" blockchain new product launch conference. This is the largest blockchain new product launch conference held by Hang Seng Electronics since 2015 when it started researching the blockchain. At the meeting, Hang Seng Electronics released the HSL2.0 platform, Fantai Chain (FTCU), trade finance platform blockchain application, and supply chain finance blockchain service platform. After the meeting, the responsible person accepted an interview with Babbitt.

(On December 19, the site of the Hang Seng Electronic Blockchain New Product Launch Conference)

HSL2.0 platform is a blockchain commercial platform that provides high performance, high stability, and high security to meet the needs of the financial field. According to Sun Haitao, Director of Blockchain R & D of Hang Seng Electronics, HSL2.0 has made a new distributed transformation based on the excellent open source frameworks such as Ethereum and Fabric. Technology and limited trust parallel computing technology can make the TPS reach more than 10,000, the delay is less than 1 second, the data supports more than 10PB, and the number of nodes supports more than 1,000.

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FanTechChain (FinTechChain Union, FTCU) is a BaaS platform for blockchain applications in the financial sector based on HSL2.0 launched by Hang Teng Network, a subsidiary of Hang Seng Electronics, which facilitates financial institutions to quickly implement business applications based on the alliance's blockchain. Blockchain development, application, and operation are simpler. Fan Tailian has achieved landing in three scenarios: electronic contract, electronic post office and equity alliance.

The blockchain application of the trade finance platform is also developed based on HSL2.0, which provides financial services for enterprises in the trade process. In response to the current status of many domestic trade and financial platforms, Hang Seng Electronics has also developed an upgraded version of the blockchain application of the trade and financial platform-"Silver Link", which operates multiple chains on one application side for easy management.

Supply chain financial blockchain service platform is a supply chain financial blockchain service platform customized for industrial customers based on HSL2.0 by Yunyong Network, a subsidiary of Hang Seng Electronics. It has been used in multiple supplies in the medical, agricultural, and steel industries. Successful application in the chain finance business scenario.

It is no accident that Hang Seng Electronics launched the above four blockchain products. In fact, Hang Seng Electronics has begun to explore blockchain technology and applications as early as 2015. It is not only the first batch of members of the internationally renowned alliance chain super ledger, but also the initiator of the domestic excellent alliance chain gold chain alliance.

At present, Hang Seng has an independent blockchain research and development team, supported by the HSL2.0 platform, and has created Fantai Chain (FTCU) platform, trade finance platform blockchain application, and supply chain finance blockchain service platform. Among them, the former two have passed the blockchain standard test of the Standards Institute of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Institute of Information and Communication Technology.

In terms of landing, Hang Seng Electronics summarized 3 "everything principle":

First, all companies and industries that need to be more fair, just, and open can use blockchain technology, and they can be transformed and implemented with blockchain technology. Second, anyone who needs data storage, protection, authorization, and transactions Enterprises and industries can use blockchain technology, and they can be transformed and implemented with blockchain technology. Third, where social collaboration is needed, cross-agency, especially cross-border, socialization based on computer networks can be completed. Both division of labor and collaboration can use blockchain technology, and both can be transformed and implemented using blockchain technology.

Under these three principles, Fantaichain was the first batch of electronic evidence service platforms to access the Internet court electronic evidence platform; HSL2.0 participated in the "China Trade Finance Cross-Bank Trading Blockchain Platform" led by the China Banking Association. In addition, Hang Seng Electronics also participated in the development of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's private equity POC project, Tianjin Exchange's revenue-sharing smart contract products, the Shenzhen Wenzhou Stock Exchange "Wenbantong" system, and Fujian Zhongan Green Supply Chain Integrated Service Platform.

After the meeting, Babbitt had an interview with the principals of each blockchain platform of Hang Seng Electronics. The following is the content of the dialogue:

About blockchain patents

Babbitt : Ant Financial has already had more than 1,000 blockchain patents. In 2019, it applied for two patents a day on average, and it is fast. Hang Seng has done blockchain for five years and has 9 blockchain patents, with an average of less than 2 in one year. So, how did Hang Seng consider the patent layout?

Sun Haitao, Director of Blockchain R & D at Hang Seng Electronics:

Our previous work focused on the needs of customers, solving their pain points, and focusing on two aspects of security and performance optimization. However, now that HSL2.0 has been developed, we will also apply for patents for some of the better technical points.

About open source

Babbitt : What do you think of open source? It is understood that JD.com, Baidu and Golden Link have open sourced the underlying blockchain code. Have you considered it?

Sun Haitao :

Open source is a good thing, and we also need to prepare for it internally , such as version upgrades, maintenance testing, etc. after open source, and we must invest in relevant resources. In addition, if companies directly modify the open source code, it seems that the cost is low; but in our view, for financial institutions, the cost of hiring and training related personnel may not be low, and from understanding the code to modifying the code , Will also consume a lot of hidden time costs. So we are also waiting for the time to mature. When open source is meaningful to everyone, we will consider it.

About rebuilding wheels

Babbitt : Ant Financial is the single largest shareholder of Hang Seng. They are also doing the blockchain, the bottom layer, and the BaaS. In this case, will your business overlap? Will there be duplicate wheels?

Ren Shan , Director of Blockchain Operations at Hang Seng :

The application of a technology in different fields, or applications for different customers, may all be repetitive. In fact, within Hang Seng or within the ant, there are also many teams that may have a competitive relationship. This is a development process. However, how to better and better organize the resources of our two sides is also a question we often discuss. Therefore, our contact and interaction with ants is relatively frequent, and we will better strengthen the two sides through organizational mechanisms or guarantees Cooperation.

About 5 years of blockchain experience

Babbitt : Hang Seng began exploring blockchain in 2015, which should be the earliest in China. Today's press conference released four new blockchain products all at once, and I feel as a listed company is still very shocking. In your opinion, what strategic significance will today's release have for you? Because you have done it for five years, you have definitely stepped on many pits and accumulated a lot of experience. Can you share it with us?

Ren Shan :

These five years are longer and longer, because five years is enough for a startup to grow. But from the experience of Hang Seng or myself, five years is not very long. I do innovative research products at Hang Seng, and the product development time is more than five or six years, not to mention the blockchain technology itself is not yet fully mature, you can understand.

Why we buried the research direction of blockchain in 2015, I think this is inseparable from the sensitivity of our head customers to blockchain technology, and customer needs will guide us to cooperate with each other. Because Hang Seng has many horizontal connections in the entire financial industry, a technology may exist in different customer groups, which requires Hang Seng to play a role of threading.

From a technical point of view, maybe we entered the field of blockchain in 2015 to carry out R & D, but it is not very advanced from the perspective of the history of blockchain development. The experience here refers to Confucius' description of "water": "The shallow ones are popular, the deep ones are unpredictable, and they go to Yuangu without any doubt . In this "progress" process, there are hurries and slows, there are falls and rises, but the nature is always clean and pure, always eastward, and always moving towards the goal.

About operational data

Babbitt : Today, Hang Seng released the supply chain financial platform. Is there some data to share in this scenario?

Wang Huazong , Deputy General Manager of Yunyong Network :

Hang Seng's supply chain finance is mainly to provide solutions and products for industrial customers. In terms of volume, we also have large customers. There may be tens of billions or even hundreds of billions a year. But from the application of blockchain, That said, it's relatively new . In traditional supply chain finance, how to distinguish the value-added part brought by the blockchain is still difficult. So objectively speaking, from the perspective of the entire business volume, we believe that the industrialization and scale effects have not yet formed on the blockchain technology, but we have also seen the added value brought by the blockchain technology to our customers. However, from the perspective of data, it is difficult to distinguish and define which growth is brought by the blockchain.

About Blockchain Line

Babbitt : Zhang Lezhen , the chief architect of Hang Seng Electronics once said, "The alliance chain is a pseudo-proposition, and the design of overall availability should be closer to the public chain." How do you understand this sentence? Because Hang Seng does the alliance chain.

Sun Haitao :

Regarding this issue, I have also passed with Mr. Zhang. What he meant was that the actual application value of some alliance chains, including bug fixes or upgrades, is currently not available. If the alliance chain is to be upgraded now, all nodes of the entire alliance chain need to be powered on and restarted, which is unrealistic. Version upgrades and social governance in the public chain already have these functions, so the general meaning of Zhang is that at least after the alliance chain has such functions, it can really use the alliance chain. Therefore, HSL2.0 must have the ability to upgrade and manage the online version.

Babbitt : He also said that if blockchain technology is falsified, BaaS will develop into a decentralized PaaS application. Is HSL2.0 the PaaS platform?

Sun Haitao :

HSL2.0 is a underlying technology platform of the blockchain, while BaaS is a service built on the underlying technology platform of the blockchain. HSL2.0 is a platform, but BaaS services are deployed on the server and provide external services. In fact, Hang Seng also does PaaS in other fields, but the blockchain must be decentralized. Therefore, other subsidiaries and other departments can provide PaaS. When it comes to the blockchain, it must be BaaS. The products we now provide are also BaaS services, trusted computing, and alliance chain solutions.

Babbitt : Some time ago, I saw the CEO of Hang Seng Electronics said, "The high-performance part of the blockchain is not the key direction emphasized by the Hang Seng Electronics research blockchain. Immutable is the core of the blockchain." Today we see that high performance is also an indicator. It seems a bit contradictory?

Sun Haitao :

I think these are two dimensions. Because we provide overall solutions and services for financial institutions, security, including data security and network security, are all important considerations. The immutability of the data you said just now is the key point, that is, a manifestation of data security, so the general manager only emphasizes that it is really necessary to pay attention to security in the financial field, which is also the focus of our HSL 2.0 focus. High performance is not enough. The focus is on security.

Although HSL2.0 has been improved rapidly and its performance is very high, we have also done a lot of work on security, which is not contradictory. Because security is the bottom line, the financial sector must emphasize security. We must provide privacy protection and trusted technology services under the premise of ensuring security and data tampering. Babbitt : Regarding the statement of the blockchain, there is a saying that many applications have now gone to certificate storage, and there is not much imagination for certificate storage, so how do you consider it in application? Is there any value in depositing evidence? Besides the certificate, what else is there?

Sun Haitao :

The core of the deposit certificate is actually the data cannot be tampered with. It is to ensure that the data is real and has not been tampered with. This is also a manifestation of financial data security, or to ensure financial security. The most important thing in finance is data security. No matter how HSL2.0 develops, security must be our bottom line . Many applications can be done on the basis of ensuring security, such as privacy protection, but this is not contradictory.

About Alliance

Babbitt : Hang Seng previously joined HyperLedge and Golden Chain Alliance, and there is another FTCU, so you have joined two blockchain alliances and built a blockchain alliance at the same time. How did you consider this?

Ren Shan :

This is also the process we gradually explore. During the evolution of blockchain technology, some community operation models are needed. After years of experience, we feel that community operation can allow people who are better at it, such as letting organizations such as ants or golden leagues think about operations, and Hang Seng can add bonuses and collaborate . So we divided the original blockchain operation and operation and maintenance work. In some technical discussions, resource exchanges, or non-financial fields, Hang Seng is more likely to join other alliances or corporate organizations and build and co-create with them. We are still committed to the financial scene. The launch of FTCU this time is mainly because we have some foundation in the financial scene, it is time to communicate with you, so we launched Fantai Chain.

Babbitt : When it comes to co-construction, will you join some developers or other different roles in the community? Because I saw the Golden Link League holding some competitions or evaluations, and I went to colleges to preach.

Ren Shan :

We have also been participating, as judges, and as project contributors, and now participate in some of their targeted discussions every year. Hang Seng's own platform, although there is no promotion or development of such activities, but our test chain has always been there, developers can log in directly to do some research and development if needed.

About application scenario differences

Babbitt : Supply chain finance is a very common scenario for blockchain. So many people are doing it, and you are doing it. What do you think is the difference with other manufacturers?

Wang Huazong :

I think Hang Seng's strength lies in our understanding of the industry . We are deeply rooted . Since 2011, Hang Seng has been providing services to off-site customers, and exporting overall online business systems to customers or core enterprises that are really supply chain entities.

Through the accumulation of this process, in fact, our understanding of the supply chain is not the same as other institutions that provide supply chain finance purely. After all, finance relies on the added value of the upper layer of the entity, and we go deeper at the bottom, including the financial service products we design for industrial customers, which also fully meet the customer's business scenario needs.

There are many blockchain platforms built by many institutions that are more universal or self-operating, and accounts receivable is a good example. It can build a supply chain financial platform for accounts receivable. Accounts receivable from any industry and any company can be uploaded on it, and then find financial institutions to match. There are many such scenarios, but this model and supply chain The combination of its own scene and application is still relatively low.

From the perspective of Hang Seng, Hang Seng hopes to provide customers with scenario-based applications and product services in combination with the actual needs of the customers themselves. This is the difference in positioning between us and other manufacturers.

About the prospect of large-scale landing

Babbitt : On the afternoon of October 24, after the 18th collective learning of the current status and trends of the development of blockchain technology by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, the blockchain quickly became hot. In your opinion, does blockchain now have a large-scale landing reality?

Ren Shan :

This phenomenon does exist. According to the customer response we have received so far and the information we have collected, the amount of more than one month has exceeded the total of the previous nine months. However, Di Gang, deputy director of the Digital Currency Research Institute of the Central Bank, also stated in a recent speech in Shenzhen that the development of blockchain is always on the road and we need to develop, dialectically and scientifically treat it. We believe that the combination of blockchain with existing systems and existing mature technologies may be more conducive to the implementation of the overall solution.

Demonstrations of technologies such as artificial intelligence, 5G, and IoT have gone through many years. Do you say that there are large-scale applications? When resources and capabilities are highly concentrated, it will trigger a sudden change in technology or accelerate the emergence of an inflection point, but its industrialization or commercialization is not purely technical, and will involve policies, economic orientation, laws and regulations, and even acceptance of the audience. , Habit development.

The blockchain technology itself has developed much faster than other technologies, and now it has indeed received more focus. The concentration of resources, manpower, or attention will indeed bring more touch. What Hang Seng needs is that no matter where it comes out, as long as it is in the financial field, it must be accurate.

About future planning

Babbitt : Looking forward to 2020, does Hang Seng Electronics have any plans for the blockchain?

Wang Huazong :

Now the company encourages various business departments to combine blockchain application scenarios and do more exploration and research on product directions or solutions, so we also actively integrate application scenarios with customers based on the points of current customer interest. The discussion of the model, including some of the products released today, is actually the precipitation and the accumulation of achievements of some time ago. Therefore, in 2020, we hope to truly make the landing of business scenarios more representative , and to promote more similar customer scenarios, so as to truly bring more added value to the product and customer service capabilities.

Chang Xiaoxiao, General Manager of Hang Seng Electronics Corporate Finance Division:

We will continue to pay attention to the trade finance business, because relatively speaking, there are more trade finance business scenarios. In addition to the blockchain guarantee business in 2020, the focus is on the multi-chain integration of trade finance platforms to provide business convenience for financial institutions. Achieve "chain-chain interconnection" in applications.

Sun Haitao :

I think blockchain technology is endless. Now TPS10000 +, when will it reach 100,000? At present, there is still ample space for hardware integration, such as encryption and decryption algorithms, digital signatures, and zero-knowledge proofs. In fact, if we make zero-knowledge proofs from software, the time it takes is in seconds, so we will combine hardware to improve these performances.

Ren Shan :

At present, we have accumulated some achievements in the field of blockchain technology, and certain requirements in the financial field will radiate to other non-financial applications, such as traceability, government affairs, trusted exchange, and other fields. Can already radiate to other areas. Beginning in 2020, we should output standardized modules of targeted solutions for various fields . In the past, everyone may think that blockchain is very professional, high-end, and difficult to be accepted by the general public; in 2020, we will reach more blockchain groups, lower the perspective, and find that blockchain is more universal and universal. Scene.

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