LONDON (Bywire News) - The blockchain is set to become the latest front in the rivalry between China and the US, with both sides identifying distributed ledger technology as being crucial to their future.
According to a report in the Coin Desk, the National Security Council has identified DLT as one part of its “critical and emerging technologies” shortlist.
The NSC has developed a strategy based on investing in, adopting and developing the technologies on the shortlist, although the document did not contain any firm details about how this strategy should be followed.
Other technologies on the shortlist include artificial intelligence, data science, quantum computing and ‘space technologies’.
China is also enthusiastic about the potential of technology. Earlier the year, it released a state-sanctioned distributed network for hosting apps and internet services. As with the US, they see this as part of their grand strategy to lead the digital economy of the coming decades. Its aim is for companies to be able to log into the network and build blockchain technologies as easily as if they were assembling a Lego set.
China hopes the decision will allow China to provide its infrastructure to other countries and gain a decisive first-mover advantage.
The scene, then, is set for a battle over dominance in the blockchain which will in turn determine who leads in the digital future.
(Written by Tom Cropper, Edited by Klaudia Fior)