By
Temitope Olatunji
March 28th, 2024
China’s leading internet services provider has unveiled plans to develop its own blockchain-based product and gave details in the new white paper.
Tencent is creating a new platform to offer a range of blockchain services, including authentication, digital asset management, smart contracts, and shared economies. The exact date of the platform’s launch is yet unknown.
Called TrustSQL, the system consists of three layers. The core layer is the Trust SQL platform that could be accessed via SQL and API. The middle one is the product and service layer named Trust Platform and the third layer is end-user-oriented and is called Trust Application.
According to the white paper, the company is going to use its own technological resources to develop the platform. TrustSQL partners will have a fast and efficient access to industrial-level blockchain infrastructure with more and equal services.
Tencent views TrustSQL as an open-ended project and urges collaboration with other firms. The newly released white paper includes a call for the Chinese government to take an active part in the development of blockchain in the country.
Apparently, the company wants to facilitate the growth of its business with the adoption of blockchain. Last year, the company’s subsidiary together with other 30 companies established the Financial Blockchain Shenzhen Consortium to focus on developing blockchain solutions for the financial industry.
Tencent is the creator of one of the most popular social media platforms in China called WeChat, which reached almost 700 users last year. According to a new UN report, Alipay and WeChat Pay processed $2.9 trillion in digital payments in China in 2016, showing a twentyfold growth in the last four years.
“Social networks and e-commerce platforms are growing in every economy, whether large or small,” said Ruth Goodwin-Groen, managing director of the U.N. Better Than Cash Alliance. “In China, digital payments are thriving from these channels, bringing millions of people into the economy. This matters because we know that when people — especially women — gain access to financial services, they are able to save, build assets, weather financial shocks and have a better chance to improve their lives.”
A few days ago, WeChat announced the expansion of its payment platform into the United Kingdom through a partnership with local fintech company Tramonex. The app users will be able to make purchases via the app while they’re in the UK without the need to carry additional currency. The services available for travelers will include shopping at stores, hotel bookings, and restaurants bills among others.
In 2015, WeChat Pay became available in Italy and is already used at multiple retail locations in the country. Besides, the company is going to expand the app into France and Germany.
