China-backed blockchain BSN Spartan finds partner in the Middle East

The developer of China’s Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN), Red Date Technology, has partnered with Singularity Innovations, a major fintech firm based in Dubai, to expand blockchain infrastructure services in the Middle East and Africa.

China’s non-crypto blockchain to make a push in the Middle East and Africa

Singularity Finance, a unit of Singularity Innovations based in the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, will also promote BSN’s Spartan Network, a blockchain designed for use in international markets that do not involve cryptocurrencies, as part of the collaboration, Red Date said in a Monday statement. .

Launched in 2020, BSN is a large state-backed digital infrastructure company that aims to develop a global public infrastructure to deploy and operate all types of blockchain distributed applications. Backed by the National Development and Reform Commission, which sets and executes national economic policy, it aims to push China into a leadership role in the blockchain industry.

Mo Taysir, CEO of Singularity Innovations, reportedly said they would leverage BSN’s infrastructure to power international interoperable blockchain solutions for businesses in various fields, including global trade, supply chain, identity, carbon credits and personal data management.

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What is the BSN Spartan Network?

Red Date launched the BSN Spartan Network last September. It is a version of distributed ledger technology designed for use in international markets, but without support for cryptocurrencies.

According to the Spartan white paper released in September, the purpose of the network is to build an easily “accessible public IT network.” As of now, the BSN Spartan Network supports three public chains, Ethereum, Cosmos, and PolygonEdge, in “non-crypto versions” that are hard forks of their original public chain frameworks.

The Spartan Network is “open source, anonymous and free to participate in by establishing a Spartan Network Data Center locally or accessing an existing Spartan Data Center,” the white paper said, adding:

“To better serve traditional IT processes and procedures in a public IT system-based environment, all native cryptocurrencies are eliminated from these public NC chains, and the gas consumption to perform transactions is calculated with fixed prices, similar to the business model of a traditional cloud service.”

China continues blockchain push despite anti-crypto stance

China recently launched a state-backed research center dedicated to exploring blockchain’s potential. Called the National Blockchain Technology Innovation Centre, the organization is tasked with researching blockchain technology for industrial applications and how it can be used in the national economy.

According to a report by local Chinese outlet South China Morning Post, the center will “focus on areas of blockchain regarding basic theory, software and hardware, with the aim of developing related key technologies and industrial applications.” The center is based in Beijing and is led by the Beijing Academy of Blockchain and Edge Computing (BABEC).

Despite its growing use of the nascent blockchain technology, China has maintained its anti-crypto stance. The country, which imposed a blanket ban on all cryptocurrencies back in 2021, apparently has no plans to adopt a friendlier approach anytime soon.

Do you think China can gain a leadership role in the blockchain industry? Let us know in the comments below.

About the author

Ruholamin Haqshanas is an accomplished crypto and financial journalist with over two years of experience writing in the field. He has a solid grasp of various segments of the FinTech space, including the decentralized iteration of financial systems (DeFi), and the emerging market for non-fungible tokens (NFT). He is an active user of digital assets for money transfers.