Written by: Frank, PANews
Stablecoins are becoming a new strategic track for major global economies, with the United States, European Union, Hong Kong, and others competing to introduce regulatory frameworks to gain an advantage. However, the issuance of any stablecoin cannot be separated from a key underlying infrastructure - the public blockchain.
Against this backdrop, the industry viewpoint that "our country lacks a globally influential public blockchain and should be led by state-owned enterprises" has sparked heated discussion. This view is not without basis, but it also easily overlooks a fact: since blockchain was elevated to a national strategic height in 2016, a blockchain infrastructure network led by the "national team" and aimed at serving the real economy has already taken shape.
From the global connector BSN, the industrial foundation "Xinghuo·Chain Network", to the technical cornerstone "ChainMaker", and the public blockchain "exception" Conflux, they collectively constitute China's unique blockchain landscape. As the demand for stablecoins becomes increasingly urgent, which of these networks is most likely to break through and become the trust foundation that carries China's stablecoin vision and faces the global market?
To accurately understand China's strategic intent, it is necessary to redefine the term "public chain" in the Chinese context. Directly equating it with a permissionless chain would create a serious conceptual deviation. In China, the "public chain" promoted at the national level is more akin to a "public infrastructure" or "trust infrastructure" guided by the state, allowing multi-party participation, but ultimately controllable.
Among these, the currently influential ones in the industry include the Blockchain Service Network (BSN), Xinghuo·Chain Network, "ChainMaker", and the recently discussed public blockchain Conflux. PANews will review and analyze these blockchain networks to see which is more likely to become the foundation for China's stablecoin.
Blockchain Service Network (BSN): Multi-framework Adaptation, Focusing on Non-Token Concept
In 2018, BSN was initiated by the National Information Center, China Mobile, China UnionPay, Beijing Jujube Technology, and other entities as a blockchain public infrastructure. Currently consisting of BSN Dedicated Network and BSN Public Network, the BSN Dedicated Network primarily serves enterprises through the "BSN Distributed Cloud Management Platform", supporting deployment of blockchain-based distributed cloud system environments in various physical IDC machine rooms, public clouds, and private clouds.
The BSN Public Network is more aligned with the familiar public and alliance chain concepts. In the BSN Public Network system, there are the BSN-DDC Basic Network (an open alliance chain facing China) and the BSN Spartan Network (a public distributed cloud service network composed of non-token public chains), targeting overseas markets.
Currently, in the DDC network system, multiple open alliance chains have been established, including Yan'an Chain, Wenchang Chain, Tai'an Chain, Wuhan Chain, and China Mobile Chain. These networks use frameworks such as Ethereum, EOS, FISCO BCOS, and Corda, with main application scenarios including Non-Fungible Token (digital collections), distributed domains, distributed identity (DID), and trusted data storage. The DDC network system is an alliance chain system without token design, with on-chain service fees requiring fiat currency recharge and facing the domestic market.
The consensus mechanism of the BSN Spartan Network leans towards public chains like Ethereum, but the key difference remains its non-token nature. BSN Spartan currently consists of three sub-chains based on Ethereum, Cosmos, and PolygonEdge. As of August 4th, the daily transaction volumes of these three chains were 1,068, 844, and 938 respectively.
Overall, BSN's core innovation lies in multi-framework adaptation, with a unified adaptation and management capability for dozens of mainstream blockchain underlying frameworks globally (including alliance and public chains). Through a standardized adaptation mechanism, developers can "plug and play" different underlying chains without worrying about complex deployment and maintenance details, like a universal "operating system" in the blockchain world. However, for the increasingly strong stablecoin demand, BSN's lack of Token mechanism may become a constraint. BSN Development Alliance Standing Council Member and Jujube Technology CEO He Yifan has previously expressed strong aversion to virtual currencies, believing they are a massive Ponzi scheme.
"Xinghuo·Chain Network": Supported by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Focusing on Industrial Sector
According to official introduction, "Xinghuo·Chain Network" is a national-level blockchain new integrated infrastructure system led by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, under the leadership and special support of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in collaboration with multiple large enterprises and institutions such as Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, and China Unicom.
From an architectural perspective, "Xinghuo·Chain Network" is divided into two layers: the first layer is the main chain composed of super nodes, used for managing identifiers, public data, or other legal assets and regulatory resources that the state may provide in the future. The second layer consists of sub-chains linked by backbone nodes, connecting various industry or regional applications.
It is worth noting that "Xinghuo·Chain Network" is a permissioned public blockchain network, and based on current information, it also lacks token design. Similarly, "Xinghuo·Chain Network" is divided into a domestic mainnet and an international version called ASTRON Network. Currently, established super nodes include Xiamen and Liuzhou; backbone nodes include Jiaoxian, Hengqin, Suzhou, etc.; international nodes include Malaysia and Macau. The node access threshold for "Xinghuo·Chain Network" is relatively high, requiring local government promotion.
The application scenarios of "Xinghuo·Chain Network" are highly focused on the industrial sector, including: full lifecycle traceability of high-end manufacturing products, collaborative management of complex supply chains, digital identity authentication and predictive maintenance of industrial equipment, and trusted sharing and trading of industrial data.
ChainMaker: Multiple Times Mentioned in Policy Planning, with State-Owned Enterprises and Internet Giants Participating
ChainMaker is led by the ChainMaker Ecosystem Alliance, initiated by Beijing Weixin Blockchain and Edge Computing Research Institute (referred to as "Weixin Institute") under the guidance and support of the Beijing Municipal Government.
The ChainMaker Ecosystem Alliance covers key state-owned enterprises such as State Grid, China Construction Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Unicom, and COFCO, as well as internet giants like Tencent and Baidu. Currently, the alliance has over 50 members.
In November 2021, ChainMaker was written into the "Beijing 14th Five-Year International Science and Technology Innovation Construction Plan". In January 2022, it was mentioned in the Beijing Municipal Government Work Report. In the "Beijing Blockchain Innovation Application Development Action Plan (2025-2027)", ChainMaker was mentioned again.
Besides its profound background, ChainMaker also has obvious technical advantages. The official claims its transaction throughput (TPS) can reach 10,000 levels, capable of meeting high concurrency needs in large-scale financial and governmental scenarios.
Conflux: Developed by Tsinghua "Yao Class" Team, the Only Token-Issuing Public Blockchain in Mainland China
Unlike the aforementioned blockchain networks with obvious alliance chain characteristics, Conflux is currently the only public blockchain in mainland China that complies with regulatory requirements. Conflux was established in 2018 by Yao Class graduate and MIT Ph.D. Long Fan, with Academician Yao Qizhi personally serving as chief scientist and participating in the core algorithm's theoretical design. In January 2020, the Conflux team officially established the Shanghai Conflux Blockchain Research Institute. In October of the same year, the Conflux blockchain mainnet was officially launched.
As a complete public blockchain, Conflux also has a governance token CFX. Although mainland China has strict regulatory policies on cryptocurrencies, Conflux's successful issuance and operation of its token CFX is a unique "exception".
As a global crypto asset, CFX has been listed and traded on multiple mainstream cryptocurrency exchanges, such as Binance, OKX, and gate.io. Its market price and market value are influenced by various factors including technological progress, ecosystem development, and macroeconomic market environment. For example, recent positive news about Conflux 3.0 upgrade and plans to support offshore RMB stablecoin has previously caused its token price to surge significantly in the short term.
Moreover, the endorsement of the ShuTu Chain is also noteworthy. The ShuTu Chain has been reported multiple times by mainstream official media such as People's Daily and has deeply collaborated with central enterprises like China Telecom and China Mobile. Additionally, the ShuTu Chain is collaborating with the financial technology company AnchorX to explore issuing a stablecoin (AxCNH) anchored to offshore RMB, supporting cross-border payment needs for countries along the "Belt and Road" initiative.
Who is More Likely to Become the Technical Foundation of Stablecoins?
Besides the aforementioned blockchain networks with strong endorsements, China also has multiple alliance chains such as State Grid Chain (State Grid), Unicom Chain (China Unicom), China Mobile Chain (China Mobile), ICBC Chain (Industrial and Commercial Bank of China), Ant Chain (Ant Group), Zhixin Chain (Tencent), and Zhongyong Chain Network. Most of these alliance chains are initiated by central state-owned enterprises or tech giants, with unique advantages and influence in their respective domains.
But returning to the original topic, does China have a public chain with international influence? The answer so far seems to be vacant. The main reason is that most Chinese blockchain networks are alliance chains, with significant differences in consensus mechanisms and economic models compared to overseas public chains like ETH and Solana.
Among the existing public chain infrastructures, the "ShuTu Chain" is most likely to grow into an internationally recognized domestic public chain. From a technical perspective, the "ShuTu Chain" possesses internationally common public chain characteristics and has innovative and performance advantages. Its official background and clear offshore RMB stablecoin exploration plan have positioned it at the forefront of the stablecoin track.
Among other blockchain networks, the "Chang'an Chain" also has the potential to become the underlying architecture for stablecoin issuance. In 2021, its research institution Microchip Institute had already signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Central Bank Digital Research Institute to jointly promote enterprise-level applications of digital RMB based on the "Chang'an Chain". Moreover, the "Chang'an Chain" has technical characteristics that can support Token design, meeting the technical requirements for stablecoin issuance. Its powerful state-owned enterprise ecosystem gives it a natural advantage in promoting stablecoin applications between institutions or in specific scenarios.
Of course, with listed companies in Europe and the United States beginning to treat cryptocurrencies as treasury assets and participate in public chain governance, China's public chain journey might have a third option: participating in the governance of mainstream international public chains. After all, in a decentralized world, national boundaries are often just a difference in computing power percentage.
