Blockchain Projects Live a Little Over a Year on Average, China Claims
Lubomir Tassev
Jun 10, 2018
The majority of blockchain projects have a short life span, averaging a little over one year, according to a report by Chinese researchers. Less than a tenth of the examined projects in the study are still active, a local official revealed at a big data expo in the city of Guizhou. Beijing, however, has recently taken steps to speed up efforts in blockchain-oriented research and development.
8 Percent of 80,000
Only 8 percent of over 80,000 blockchain projects launched globally are still actively maintained, according to He Baohong, Director of the Cloud Computing and Big Data Research Institute at the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT). He spoke at the International Big Data Industry Expo 2018 held in the southwestern city of Guizhou.
In comments on the release of a new report about the top global blockchain industry trends, the Chinese official also said that the average life span of these projects is only about 1.22 years. The study produced by the CAICT has recognized six major trends, including the increasing integration of the flow of data and assets and the accelerated pace of the growth of digital assets.
“[These projects] came out very quickly, but die quickly as well,” He Baohong said, without sharing further details in regards to the timeframe and the exact scope of the survey. “In this circumstance, governments are accelerating their efforts to establish unified standards in order to help blockchain projects achieve real-life applications,” he elaborated, quoted by the China Money Network.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) of China, under which Baohong’s institute operates, has actually started work on the development of a national standard for blockchain technologies and applications. According to recent Chinese media reports, the standard will be completed and introduced by the end of next year.
“We have established verifiable blockchain programs in China, and nearly 200 private enterprises have expressed interests to join,” He Baohong added. “[This] will help the blockchain technology and the industry to become more transparent and open,” he emphasized.
Baohong’s comments came after a recent statement by Yu Kequn, Director of the Chinese National Center for Information Technology Security Research, who said that “The development of blockchain technology may become an important step for China to grasp the global technological competition.” In his words, blockchain technology “can be applied in the production, management, and transaction chains to bring the entire life cycle of restructuring to different areas.”
China Serious About Blockchain
In the meantime, the executive power in Beijing has made a decision to accelerate the work on the development and implementation of blockchain and big data technologies in the country’s economy.
According to a statement released last week, the State Council of China asked local governments and financial authorities, as well as relevant state-funded research institutions, to concentrate their efforts in that direction. The order, issued earlier in May, instructs provincial and municipal authorities to speed up and support the development of financial technologies, including blockchain applications, within the framework of the current Chinese regulations.
The advancements in that field will also be supported financially. Last week, a Chinese blockchain accelerator announced millions of dollars in subsidies for startups. The Hangzhou-based Blockchain Industrial Park will offer up to $1 million to finance the development of new blockchain projects, among many other incentives for both fintech businesses and their qualified employees.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) of China, under which Baohong’s institute operates, has actually started work on the development of a national standard for blockchain technologies and applications. According to recent Chinese media reports, the standard will be completed and introduced by the end of next year.
“We have established verifiable blockchain programs in China, and nearly 200 private enterprises have expressed interests to join,” He Baohong added. “[This] will help the blockchain technology and the industry to become more transparent and open,” he emphasized.
Baohong’s comments came after a recent statement by Yu Kequn, Director of the Chinese National Center for Information Technology Security Research, who said that “The development of blockchain technology may become an important step for China to grasp the global technological competition.” In his words, blockchain technology “can be applied in the production, management, and transaction chains to bring the entire life cycle of restructuring to different areas.”
