BSN architect Red Date to bring R3’s Corda enterprise blockchain to China - Android

The firm behind the BSN has acquired the rights to R3's financial services enterprise blockchain as Chinese banks look to blockchain adoption.

Red Date Technology, the firm behind government-backed blockchain platform Blockchain Services Network, has licensed American distributed ledger company R3’s enterprise blockchain to resell in China.

Why it matters: This is the first time Red Date has acquired the rights to resell enterprise blockchain from an overseas provider. Primarily known for its role with the BSN, Red Date is diversifying to become a heavyweight in China’s blockchain industry.

• Backed by Bank of America, Merill Lynch, HSBC, and Singapore’s Temasek, the Corda consortium blockchain is a big name overseas but has yet to land in China.
• The partnership will allow Corda to tap into China’s banking industry as well as the e-CNY. R3 is also eyeing central bank-backed digital currencies.
• The move is likely to attract big Chinese firms to build decentralized applications using Corda.

READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE | Chinese state banks accepting applications for enterprise e-CNY accounts

Details: Corda’s enterprise nodes will connect to notary nodes hosted on China UnionPay’s cloud, forming a single China Corda Network, Yifan He, CEO of Red Date told TechNode. Chinese firms will be able to participate in Corda’s enterprise blockchain through Red Date.

• Notary nodes prevent double spending by attesting that a transaction has not already occurred.
• China UnionPay is considering an active role in managing the China Corda Network, He said.
• Corda’s main clients overseas are banks, so He expects adoption within China’s financial services industry.
• Red Date will also roll out an open permissioned version of Corda on the BSN available to developers.
• He expects the paid version to be available in the next four months.

We’re aware of R3’s huge success outside China… Red Date will also help to drive Corda and CorDapps’ [Corda decentralized application] adoption among all Chinese banks.

—Yifan He, CEO of Red Date Technology

Context: Following the rollout of the BSN, Beijing-based Red Date has been breaking out its other products.

• In December, the company told TechNode that it is working on two projects aimed at capitalizing on central bank-backed digital currencies and stablecoins.
• Launched in 2015, R3 was one of the first companies to move into enterprise blockchain adoption.
• Corda is used by financial firms around the world; the Nasdaq stock exchange uses it to build market infrastructure and Italian banks use it for interbank payments.
• China’s central government is keen on deploying blockchain as infrastructure for data integration.
• State Grid announced Tuesday that it is working with Beijing-based Wanglu Tech to integrate blockchain in its data management. Wanglu’s VP of operations told TechNode that Chinese banks are preparing for blockchain adoption.

READ MORE: State Grid to deploy Wanglu Tech’s blockchain for data integration

Blockchain Services Network (BSN)
What: A platform for blockchain development, bringing together cloud services and different chain protocols on city nodes.
Why: To reduce the cost of blockchain application design and deployment while powering communication between chains. It will be made available around the world through local cloud providers, ultimately creating a global internet of blockchains.
Who: It is part of the government’s Global Blockchain Strategy unveiled by Chinese President Xi Jinping in November 2019, spearheaded by the China State Information Center, China Mobile, China Union Pay, and Red Date Technology.