3 Things the Western Media is Missing about China’s New Digital Currency

by | News

This is an editorial by Ben Yorke. The opinions listed here are in response to the mass-reporting of a national Chinese digital currency from the People’s Bank of China (PBoC).

As much as it pains me to say this, China probably isn’t opening up to digital currencies. After the PBoC announced their digital currency was ready after 5 years of development, we’ve all seen the rumors floating around, and as usual, the media doesn’t know how to handle stories about China. Political and cultural complexities are once again oversimplified without considering the underlying implications. Here are a few things to take away from the announcement:

1. There will be nothing “public” about it.

For investors of VeChain, NEO, or any other China-based projects, this is going to be a tough pill to swallow. The world’s second largest economy isn’t going to trust their national currency to a blockchain startup. They will have a private chain, running on private nodes, that they have total control over.

2. China already has a digital currency.

There is no need for a national cryptocurrency from a public perspective. For all intents and purposes, the RMB has already been fully digitized thanks to Alipay and WeChat Pay. In 2018, China processed over 57 billion mobile transactions, a little more than 1800 per second. This number should continue to skyrocket as cash becomes more and more inconvenient to use. On a personal note, I’ve literally gone weeks without carrying or spending cash, nearly everything is conducted using QR Codes and WeChat.

For Beijing, the upside is that each of these transactions are tied to a WeChat or Alipay account, meaning personal identification numbers and bank accounts are all tied together. It’s impossible to have any sort of anonymity, a key reason Beijing is so supportive of this digital economy.

3. Control is the Name of the Game

The PBoC doesn’t want to make cross-border transactions easier. They don’t want to make it easier to buy and sell goods under the table. It’s not about increasing access to banking services. So what is the primary motivation here?

This announcement comes at a time when they are trying to limit their national banking system’s access to loans and shadow-banking. After the recent collapse of the Bank of Jinzhou and Baoshang Bank, the PBoC is on high-alert for more failing institutions. Low liquidity as well as abuse of interbank lending and wealth management products (WMPs) has ignited a concern that a financial crisis might be closer than Beijing had realized.

An interbank network could certainly help the PBoC control certain areas of banking activities. According to various news sources, the new digital currency would have a two-tier system with the PBoC at the top and commercial banks on the second tier. From Beijing’s perspective, this makes a lot more sense than an open-source, public blockchain such as Libra. Still, it’s not the kind of thing that ordinary people will come in contact with, or even need to know about.

Is this a response to Libra?

Certainly, everything China’s top economic policy-makers do has been evaluated from a geo-political angle. CoinTelegraph went for a more sensational spin by saying that “The PBoC has been planning to get ahead of the U.S. and Facebook’s Libra by issuing a national cryptocurrency, as American politicians slam the brakes on the social network’s stablecoin because of regulatory concerns.” While China’s state-run media might parade this as an example of innovation, Libra’s announcement came loaded with technical details, in the hope that they could begin implementing a revolutionary new infrastructure. China’s announcement came without any information, an indication that the title was more important than the actual details themselves. Don’t fool yourselves, China’s government (wisely) isn’t going to turn their financial system over to a public blockchain anytime soon. Still, the PBoC planning to use a blockchain for a national digital currency has a nice ring to it. In a world where most people only read the headlines, it seems like a smart move.

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Wat kunnen we verwachten van Walmart’s publieke blockchain platform?

by | Uncategorized

Op 25 juni onthulde Walmart China het ‘Blockchain Food Safety and Traceability Platform’ samen met hun partners VeChain, PwC, China Chain Store and Franchise Association (CCFA), Kerchin en enkele andere voedselproducenten. Walmart zal VeChain’s blockchain-technologie gebruiken om producten te verifiëren langs de supply chain, met als doel om het consumentenvertrouwen te verhogen. Consumenten kunnen de producten scannen met de app WeChat (de meestgebruikte app in China) wanneer zij in de winkel zijn.

Hoe significant is dit?

Voedselveiligheid en productverificatie werden altijd al gezien als een van meest impactvolle gebruiksgevallen van blockchain-technologie. Als we naar de industrie hieromheen kijken, zien we dat het ontwikkelen en implementeren van deze technologie langzaam gaat en al enkele jaren op zich laat wachten. Tot nu toe hebben we (naast MyStory) slechts enkele tegenvallende pilots gezien. Echter, het nieuwe platform van Walmart China komt erg dicht bij het idee van een volledige implementatie. Tot nu toe zijn er 23 verschillende producten actief, wat we afgelopen week konden zien aan de toename van verkeer op het VeChain mainnet.

Walmart China maakt veel vooruitgang in een zeer competitieve markt. In 2018 maakte het bedrijf een omzet van maar liefst $10,7 miljard van hun 443 supermarkten en online platformen, hierdoor staan zij wat betreft marktaandeel op nummer vier. Daarnaast verkoopt Walmart Global hun voorraad sneller dan de gemiddelde winkel; een positief beeld van hoe snel zij hun voorraad kunnen bijvullen en verkopen. Dit is belangrijk bij het voorspellen van blockchain-verkeer.

Met de 23 producten die al beschikbaar zijn, verbrandt het platform ongeveer een vierde van de gemiddelde VTHO die per dag geproduceerd wordt. Met de huidige plannen om uit te breiden met nog 100 productlijnen voor het einde van dit jaar, kunnen we zien dat er een zeker vraagoverschot naar VTHO zal ontstaan. Dit zorgt voor enkele zeer aanmoedigende scenarios voor VeChain investeerders.

Wie kijkt er mee?

De afgelopen twee decennia zijn er in China vele schandalen geweest omtrent de voedselveiligheid, met als gevolg een ver te zoeken consumentenvertrouwen. Hieronder vallen onder andere nagemaakte melk, overvloedig gebruik van pesticide, opnieuw verwerkt dood varkensvlees en gerecyclede gootolie. De aankondiging van Walmart China werd gedaan als deel van de China Food Safety Publicity Week. Dit werd gehost door 23 overheidsdiensten, waaronder de voedselveiligheidscommissie van de deelstaatraad en de nationale gezondheidscommissie. De deelstaatraad en de communistische partij hebben onlangs enkele doelen voorgesteld, waaronder het doel dat voor 2020, 97% van al het voedsel voldoet aan de voedselveiligheidseisen. Dit zorgt voor meer druk op boeren en fabrikanten om hun voedsel veiliger te maken. Deze samenwerking laat zien hoe nuttig blockchain-technologie kan zijn voor de overheid en bedrijfsorganisaties. Zij zetten de trend die producenten, winkels en beleidsmakers zullen volgen.

Als mede gastheer van het evenement mag de CCFA niet over het hoofd gezien worden. De CCFA is een non-profit organisatie die winkels vertegenwoordigt bij het maken van beleid industrie management. Zo vertegenwoordigen zij onder andere Walmart, Carrefour en Tesco. Het feit dat de CCFA als eerste ziet hoe de blockchain-technologie van VeChain wordt toegepast is nog een positief bijeffect van de samenwerking

De toekomst van shoppen in China

In het land waar e-commerce, bezorgdiensten en mobiele betalingen alomtegenwoordig zijn, is het niet onredelijk om te verwachten dat blockchain-oplossingen erg populair zullen worden

Verse paddestoelen op de blockchain

Als de nummer 1 werkgever in de VS, weet Walmart erg goed hoe belangrijk innovatie is om je marktaandeel te behouden of vergroten. De afgelopen jaren heeft Walmart China significante investeringen gemaakt in technologische partners. Onder deze partners valt China’s op een na grootste e-commerce bedrijf, JD.com. Naast e-commerce focust Walmart China zich op last-mile delivery: dit is het laatste deel van het bezorgproces voordat de bezorging bij de klant komt. China krijgt steeds meer bezorgers op e-bikes die producten onmiddelijk naar de consument brengen.

Blockchain is de laatste poging om de online-to-offline (o2o) klantenervaring te verbeteren. Klanten die rondlopen in de fysieke winkels kunnen voedselproducten scannen met de app WeChat, zo kunnen zij meer te weten komen over de producten die ze willen kopen. Walmart China ziet in hoe belangrijk dit is: een verslag van JD.com en Walmart uit 2018 legde nadruk op het feit dat ‘productkwaliteit’ het meest gewild is bij consumenten; dit staat hoger op de lijst dan ‘gemak’ en ‘waar voor je geld’ in een enquête gehouden onder Chinese consumenten. Dit maakt dat VeChain’s oplossingen een deel vormen van de kernwaarden van Walmart China, aangezien geverifieerde gegevens hun producten veel aantrekkelijker maken.

Op de lange termijn kunnen we verwachten dat bijna alle voedselproducten hun eigen unieke data krijgen die bekeken kan worden door consumenten; online én in de fysieke winkels. In het moderne China hebben QR codes de afgelopen jaren zelfs cash vervangen. De kracht van QR codes om informatie over te brengen, geeft blockchain een volledig ontwikkelde infrastructuur om bovenop te bouwen. Walmart en VeChain staan klaar om hiervan te profiteren terwijl zij doorgaan met innoveren en meer macht geven aan consumenten.

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DNV GL partners with Deloitte China to improve healthcare standards in China

by | News

One of VeChain’s closest strategic partners spent the week focused on the medical industry – an industry in China desperate for reform and modernization. Burdened with one of the lowest doctor-to-patient ratios in the world, the public hospital systems remain overwhelmed, while private clinics are under-utilized, especially in rural regions. Patients show a clear lack of trust and respect for most medical professionals, a characteristic that often leads to violent attacks when they feel unsatisfied with the quality of medical service.

While healthcare has always been a focus of DNV GL, this week was a bold statement with the signing of a strategic cooperation with Deloitte China. Their partnership focuses on improving the standards of hospitals and medical facilities throughout China through training, consulting, formal certification, and improving the supply chains. While VeChain was not mentioned in the formal press release, these are all use cases that VeChain, DNV GL, and Deloitte have collaborated on in the past.

May 14th – DNV GL Business Assurance for Greater China CEO George Kang attends the signing ceremony. Kang is a member of the VeChain Steering Committee.

“As the largest professional service organization in the world, Deloitte helps the Chinese medical organizations to integrate international standardization and promote the sustainable and healthy development of the industry through the service capabilities and advantages of global network, technological innovation and operation management.”

Ms. Wu Ping, Leading Partner of Deloitte China Life Sciences and Medical Industry

This week also saw the 81st China International Medical Equipment Fair hosted at the Shanghai National Expo & Convention Center. DNV GL Management Group worked with partners to present the expo, which is the largest medical device expo in the Asia-Pacific region.

DNV GL has strategic partnerships with many medical device manufacturers, and uses its certification services to promote a higher standard of equipment and facilities throughout the region. This year’s theme was “Intelligent Reconstruction of the Future” and focused on emerging technologies such as AI, robotics, blockchain, big data, and 3D printing.

VeChain and DNV GL also added Renji Hospital to the Low Carbon Digital Ecosystem. This influential and historic hospital will provide priority services to ecosystem users, incentivizing a whole new segment of the population to take part in eco-friendly activities. VeChain’s blockchain technology can play a major role in modernizing traditional healthcare information systems and supply chains. By working with DNV GL and other strategic partners, VeChain has an advantage over many other public blockchains in the industry.

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How healthcare in China is poised for digitalization

by | News

On May 12th, Renji Hospital announced their inclusion in DNV GL & VeChain’s Low Carbon Digital Ecosystem. As a historic and reputable hospital in China, their strategy and commitment to social responsibility stands out from the complex domestic healthcare industry.

There are many indications that the healthcare sector will soon undergo a massive overhauling in China, and for good reason. Recent statistics show that China has one of the lowest doctor-to-patient ratios in the world, a problem exacerbated by an imbalanced population of seniors due to decades of single-children families. Additionally, Chinese patients are mostly free from the insurance-based restrictions that westerners are more familiar with, so they tend to gravitate towards provincial capitals and Tier-One cities where the biggest and best hospitals are located. The result is that large hospitals are overwhelmed and oversaturated with long lines and unsatisfied patients, leading to violent attacks on doctors and nurses.

Another problem stems from the lack of privatized clinics. With reputation being so vital to success, lesser-qualified doctors have little incentive to set up basic-care facilities in more rural areas. To remedy this, the National Health Commission of China is piloting a program to make it easier for doctors to set up private clinics. These medical clinics could be effective at stemming the flow of low-urgency patients into bigger urban centers, but must find a way to convince their patients that the medical care received is of a suitable standard.

One of the ways that hospitals and medical care facilities can do this is through digitalization. In 2014, hospitals began integrating Alipay (Alibaba’s financial platform) to book appointments and pay expenses. Still, the

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What is TicTalk?

by | Podcasts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHvHuISC1kY

TicTalk is a project from the VeChain Incubation program, a decentralized social media platform designed to make social media less about information and more about value. This blockchain-based social identity platform has a number of key features:

The TIC token:

The TIC token allows users to instantly transfer value to others. This is great for rewarding quality content, or just trying to make a good impression on someone.

Multiple Identities:

Great for users who want to set up professional accounts separate to the accounts they use for friends or family.

Option to set a fee (in TIC) for being contacted:

This is a great way for professional accounts to offer their services to the public. TicTalk is setting up deals with legal and medical associations, as well as other consultants in China to provide their services (via phone call, text messages, or video chat) on the platform. Users will be notified if a person they are attempting to contact requires a fee. If they do, and the user agrees, smart contracts will automatically settle the transaction. For example, a video chat session with a doctor will be billed at a per/minute rate. Since the platform is decentralized, all fees go directly to the user providing the service. And by having a fee set to contact you, spammers and advertisers will think twice before filling your inbox with unwanted offers.

The meta-data from these paid interactions is all recorded to the blockchain, so that users can verify the history of these accounts. In this manner, TicTalk is looking to revolutionize the way these service industries conduct business. TicTalk uses VeChain’s MPP protocol to pay the blockchain’s gas (VTHO) fee for these transactions, allowing users to record data to the blockchain free of charge.

Facial Recognition:

Scan a person (or a photo/video of a person) using your phone’s camera to see if they are registered to the platform. This is a great way to connect to users, especially premium users such as celebrities or models looking to raise their user-base. It’s also a fun and convenient way to add peers and people you meet in public. This feature is turned off by default, to protect the privacy of unwilling users.

Blockchain-based Identity Solutions:

As part of the VeChain ecosystem, they are working with VeChain, as well as VeChain’s partners, to integrate their identity solutions into other areas. Currently they are exploring potential solutions with DNV GL and the Carbon Credits platform.

China-based model：

TicTalk is focusing their local platform on China. Their value-based model should fit nicely into a society with a habit of digital payments and monetary gifts. By targeting key markets such as gaming, cosplay, and the large single demographic, TicTalk’s user-friendly interface should allow for quick adoption. Additionally, adding on professional accounts such as lawyers or doctors should give the app a unique and valuable use case.

The Chinese platform has already been released, in a limited fashion. It currently uses an alternative financial model, based on credits and in-app purchases to provide value. This is necessary in order to be compliant with local regulations. As government regulations become more transparent, TicTalk will look to shift to a single platform, all utilizing the TIC token.

International Platform:

Launching later this year, the TicTalk International platform will have all the features listed above. Users will be able to swap TIC tokens freely, as TicTalk attempts to create a global network based on value. TicTalk envisions a future where traditional phone numbers and global boundaries no longer exist, and all interactions are based through social media.

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