By
Tolu Ajiboye
April 23rd, 2024
The Chinese government seems to be really interested in blockchian and crypto. A new cryptography law is to become operative soon.
The recently concluded Chinese Congress has in effect passed the long-expected cryptography law which is expected to become operative by January 2020.
Local sources indicate that the standing committee of the 13th National Peoples’ Congress passed the new law barely twenty-four hours after Chinese President and General Secretary of the Communist Party Xi Jinping had openly supported blockchain technology and make the clarion call for his Nation to “seize the opportunity”.
The draft proposal, reports indicate, was made available in late June and covers the whole spectrum without restricting the innovations that have the crypto space to where it stands today. Rather, the law aims to find ways of regulating the crypto space effectively keeping within the bounds of the control of the Chinese state.
According to the draft proposal, “the term “password” as used in this Law refers to products, technologies and services that use a specific transformation to encrypt or secure information such as information”.
This covers the whole broad range of technologies that are used in cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. The proposal which is now the law has vested the powers of management of all password-related (cryptographic) activities in the National password management department. This, of course, indicates that the Chinese are making conscious efforts at encouraging and integrating blockchain-related policies into their government and private sectors.
Furthermore, the Chinese are keen on research and development of the new technology:
“The State encourages and supports the research and exchange of cryptographic science and technology, protects cryptographic intellectual property rights according to law, and promotes the advancement and innovation of cryptographic science and technology. Organizations and individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the work of cryptography shall be commended and rewarded in accordance with relevant state regulations”.
It is expected that there would be a competitive environment to encourage the development of innovations that will keep the Chinese ahead in the blockchain industry at any level and in any field. It also shows that the Chinese government has been thinking about how to use blockchain technology to lower costs and allow for greater efficiencies within their economy.
This also comes as a major move to counter the emergence of global cryptocurrency tokens and blockchain technologies such as Facebook’s Libra which is already facing several regulatory hurdles at the moment which could threaten the world’s second-largest economy.
Coinspeaker had previously reported that Bitcoin prices made a major rebound from a sliding phase after the announcement was made indicating that positive sentiment had returned to the cryptocurrency markets. As of the time of filing this report, Bitcoin prices remained steady at $9,258.43 which is a -0.5% change on the total price differential in the last twenty-four hours.