The new “standard”? – China wants to build global blockchain payment system
China wants to incorporate other countries’ CBDCs to create a global blockchain payment system based on its own BSN.
The Chinese government’s blockchain project, called the Blockchain Service Network (BSN), is working on a standard to integrate central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) from other countries.
According to an official blog post on 15 January, the BSN wants to build a universal digital payment network (UDPN) that can integrate the CBDCs of different countries. Although the UDPN is currently still in the development phase, it is expected to enter the beta phase as Bitcoin Era early as the second half of 2021. The final completion is to take place within the next five years.
With the UDPN, the BSN wants to create a standard for digital payments and for the transfer of digital currencies. The ambitions are high, as the new system is to encompass all conceivable areas such as financial services, insurance services and online trading and be able to integrate them via specific application programming interfaces (APIs) to obtain nothing less than a large global payment system.
In the blog post in question, the BSN also confirms that China is still working on its own central bank digital currency, as it sees this technology as arguably the most important “game changer” of the global financial system:
“CBDCs will fundamentally change existing payment methods and the way traditional currencies circulate. They also increase the resilience of payment systems and improve international trade across national borders and national currencies.”
The BSN plans to continue to invest heavily
The UDPN is one of the four main objectives of the BSN’s 2021 roadmap, the others being to expand the BSN network, increase adoption of the private sector BSN platform and expand the overall BSN ecosystem. The BSN plans to continue to invest heavily in research and development of blockchain technology in the new year, with the aim of making huge strides towards mass adoption of the technology across the globe.
As Cointelegraph had reported, the BSN is the Chinese government’s blockchain project that had undertaken initial pilot testing in late 2019. Originally, the programme was intended as an incubator to help small and medium-sized enterprises develop and incorporate blockchain applications. Subsequently, the network was then expanded and made available to companies around the world from April 2020.
