Conflux Network, China Telecom unveils blockchain SIM card

Image: Envato Elements and Conflux Networks Twitter

Conflux Network, a public blockchain backed by the Chinese government, on Tuesday unveiled its first blockchain-based SIM card, or BSIM, in partnership with China’s second-largest wireless carrier China Telecom.

See related article: China’s “Instagram” gets NFT makeover with Conflux

Fast facts

• The BSIM card will allow users to access blockchain-based features such as on-chain data storage, digital identity verification, digital asset management, as well as improve mobile phones’ defense against cyber attacks, according to a Twitter posts by Conflux on Tuesday.
• At the launch event, Conflux Networks co-founder and chief technology officer Ming Wu transferred a commemorative NFT from Conflux’s BSIM card account to China Telecoms to mark the partnership.
• A BSIM card looks the same as a regular SIM card and is compatible with both Android and IOS operating systems, but has 10-20 times more storage space and a computing power several dozen times stronger, according to Fan Long, Conflux founder and president of the Tree-Graph Research Institute, the research team behind the Conflux Network.
• The BSIM card will be piloted in Hong Kong, which is trying to build itself into a global hub for the Web 3.0 industry, and then introduced to mainland China and overseas markets.
• The Tree-Graph Research Institute was established in 2020 to promote the development of the Conflux blockchain, and is supported by the municipal government of Shanghai.
• The institute is involved in the drafting of IEEE P3217 – an international blockchain standard by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers to define the interface between blockchain and blockchain applications, to be published in June 2023, according to a Wednesday report by state media Xinhua News Agency.
• Launched in 2018, Conflux Network is a tier 1 blockchain that claims to be the only regulatory public blockchain in China, and has partnered with numerous businesses and government entities on blockchain and metaverse initiatives in the country.
• Following the launch of the BSIM card, the price of Conflux CFX, the native token of the Conflux blockchain, hit a ten-day high of $0.3253 on May 16. The token was trading at USD 0.3007 as of 11:30 a.m. in Hong Kong, up over 15% for the week, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

See related article: Conflux launches Tethys mainnet in China with thumbs up from the authorities