A new Chinese homegrown enterprise blockchain Chang’an Chain will be integrated with the digital yuan following an agreement between the central bank’s Digital Currency Research Institute and the Beijing Academy of Blockchain and Edge Computing (BABEC).
China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) does not use blockchain at its core because the technology was deemed to be insufficiently scalable.
The blockchain collaboration aims to use the digital renminbi as smart money by adding programmable characteristics. Together the organizations plan to explore new transaction and business models.
Few additional details were given. But the interesting aspect is the new Chang’an Chain which was unveiled in late January. It seems this might be the “national” blockchain technology.
It’s claimed the state-backed modular enterprise blockchain is capable of 100,000 transactions per second. It achieves these rates by executing transactions in parallel. Additionally, it has quantum-proof encryption algorithms.
The solution comes with its own hardware, including a 96-core blockchain chip based on the RISC-V instruction set. This enables parallel execution of smart contracts and the chip has ‘physical security isolation’, which we interpret as a secure enclave.
BABEC is the Chang’an Chain Ecosystem Alliance founder, which consists of 27 organizations, including the State Grid, China Construction Bank, the Digital Currency Research Institute and Tencent. Tencent is also involved in China’s FISCO BCOS blockchain.
The Chang’an Chain technology was developed by BABEC, Tsinghua University, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Tencent, Baidu and others.
China Construction Bank unveiled one of the first Chang’an Chain applications, a supply chain finance solution. Another is a carbon trading application from the State Grid Corporation of China.
Chang’an Chain’s name is a metaphor for “Long-term peace and stability, creating greater brilliance, and linking the world.”