By Frank, PANews
Stablecoins are becoming a new strategic opportunity for major global economies, with the United States, the European Union, Hong Kong, and other regions racing to introduce regulations in an effort to seize the initiative. However, the issuance of any stablecoin is inseparable from a key underlying infrastructure: the public blockchain.
Against this backdrop, the view within the industry that "my country lacks a globally influential public blockchain and should be led by central state-owned enterprises" has sparked heated debate. While this view is not groundless, it also tends to overlook the fact that since blockchain was elevated to a national strategic level in 2016, a blockchain infrastructure network, led by a "national team" and aimed at serving the real economy, has taken shape.
From the global connector BSN, the industry foundation Spark Chain Network, the technological cornerstone Changan Chain, and the "special case" public blockchain, Conflux, these networks together constitute China's unique blockchain landscape. With the growing demand for stablecoins, which of these networks is most likely to break through and become the trusted foundation that carries China's vision of a stablecoin globally?
To accurately understand China's strategic intentions, the term "public chain" must be redefined in the Chinese context. Equating it directly with permissionless blockchains creates a serious conceptual misconception. In China, the "public chain" promoted at the national level is essentially more like a "public infrastructure" or "trust infrastructure" guided by the state, allowing for multi-party participation but ultimately controlled.
Among these, the most influential are the Blockchain Service Network (BSN), Spark Chain Network, Changan Chain, and the recently discussed public blockchain Conflux. PANews analyzes these blockchain networks to determine which is most likely to become the foundation for a Chinese stablecoin.
Blockchain Service Network (BSN): Multi-framework adaptation, focusing on the concept of no currency
Jointly launched in 2018 by the State Information Center, China Mobile, China UnionPay, and Beijing Red Date Technology, BSN is a blockchain-based public infrastructure. Currently, it consists of a private BSN network and a public BSN network. The private BSN network primarily serves enterprises, primarily through the "BSN Distributed Cloud Management Platform," which supports deployment in various physical IDCs, public clouds, and private clouds, establishing a blockchain-based distributed cloud system environment.
The BSN public network leans more towards the familiar concepts of public and consortium chains. The BSN public network system is divided into the BSN-DDC basic network (an open consortium chain for China) and the BSN Spartan network (a public distributed cloud service network composed of non-coined public chains) for overseas markets.
Currently, the DDC network includes multiple open consortium chains, including Yan'an Chain, Wenchang Chain, Tai'an Chain, Wuhan Chain, and Zhongyi Chain. These networks utilize frameworks such as Ethereum, EOS, FISCO BCOS, and Corda. Key application scenarios include NFTs (digital collectibles), distributed domain names, distributed identities (DIDs), and trusted data storage. The DDC network is a consortium chain system without a token design. Regular on-chain service fees must be paid in fiat currency, and the system is targeted at the domestic market.
The BSN Spartan network's consensus mechanism is more similar to public chains like Ethereum, but it remains a tokenless public chain. BSN Spartan currently consists of three subchains: Ethereum, Cosmos, and PolygonEdge. As of August 4th, the daily transaction volumes for these three chains were 1,068, 844, and 938, respectively.
Overall, BSN's core innovation lies in its multi-framework adaptability, enabling unified adaptation and management of dozens of mainstream blockchain infrastructures worldwide (including consortium and public chains). Through a standardized adaptation mechanism, developers can easily choose from a variety of underlying chains without having to worry about complex deployment and maintenance details, creating a universal "operating system" for the blockchain world. However, given the growing demand for stablecoins, BSN's lack of a token mechanism may pose a constraint. He Yifan, Executive Director of the BSN Development Alliance and CEO of Red Date Technology, has repeatedly expressed his strong dislike for virtual currencies, believing them to be a massive Ponzi scheme.
Spark Chain Network: Supported by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, focusing on the industrial sector
According to the official introduction, "Spark Chain Network" is a national-level new blockchain integrated infrastructure system built under the leadership and special support of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, led by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, and jointly built by Beihang University, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, China Unicom and other large enterprises and institutions.
Architecturally, the Spark Chain Network consists of two layers. The first layer is the main chain, comprised of super nodes, used to manage identifiers, public data, or other legal assets and regulations provided by the state in the future. The second layer consists of subchains connected by backbone nodes, linking various industry or regional applications.
It's worth noting that Spark Chain Network is a permissioned public blockchain network. Based on current information, it also lacks a token design. Spark Chain Network is also divided into the domestic mainnet and the international ASTRON network. Currently, Spark Chain Network has established super nodes in Xiamen and Liuzhou; backbone nodes in Jiaozhou, Hengqin, and Suzhou; and international nodes in Malaysia and Macau. The entry threshold for Spark Chain Network nodes is relatively high, requiring local government support.
The application scenarios of "Spark Chain Network" are highly focused on the industrial field, including: full life cycle 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 transaction of industrial data.
ChainMaker: Multiple inclusions in policy planning, with participation from state-owned enterprises and internet giants
"Chang'an Chain" is led by the Chang'an Chain Ecological Alliance, which was initiated by the Beijing Microchip Blockchain and Edge Computing Research Institute (abbreviated as "Microchip Institute") under the guidance and support of the Beijing Municipal Government.
The Changan Chain Ecological Alliance includes key state-owned enterprises in key sectors, including State Grid Corporation of China, China Construction Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Unicom, and COFCO, as well as internet giants such as Tencent and Baidu. Currently, the alliance has more than 50 members.
In November 2021, Chang'an Chain was included in the Beijing Municipal Government's 14th Five-Year Plan for International Science and Technology Innovation. In January 2022, Chang'an Chain was included in the Beijing Municipal Government Work Report. The 2025 Beijing Blockchain Innovation and Application Development Action Plan (2025-2027) once again mentioned Chang'an Chain.
In addition to its strong background, Changan Chain also boasts significant technological advantages. Official claims indicate a transaction throughput (TPS) of 100,000, capable of meeting the high concurrency demands of large-scale financial and government scenarios.
Conflux: Created by a team from Tsinghua University's Yao Class, the only public blockchain in mainland China to issue a cryptocurrency.
Unlike the aforementioned blockchain networks, which have distinct consortium chain characteristics, TreeGraph Chain is currently the only public chain in mainland China that meets regulatory requirements. Founded in 2018 by Yao Class graduate and MIT PhD Long Fan, TreeGraph Chain is led by Academician Yao Qizhi, serving as Chief Scientist and participating in the theoretical design of its core algorithms. In January 2020, the Conflux team officially established the Shanghai TreeGraph Blockchain Research Institute in Shanghai. In October of the same year, the Conflux TreeGraph Blockchain mainnet officially launched.
As a complete public chain, TreeGraph also has a governance token, CFX. Although mainland China has strict regulatory policies on cryptocurrencies, Conflux has successfully issued and operated its token, CFX, which is a unique "special case."
As a global crypto asset, CFX is listed and traded on several major cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance, OKX, and Gate.io. Its market price and market capitalization are influenced by a variety of factors, including technological progress, ecosystem development, and the macro-market environment. For example, recent positive news regarding the Conflux 3.0 upgrade and its support for offshore RMB stablecoins has led to a significant short-term surge in its token price.
Furthermore, TreeGraph Chain's endorsement cannot be underestimated. It has been featured numerous times by mainstream official media outlets, including the People's Daily, and has collaborated extensively with numerous state-owned enterprises, including China Telecom and China Mobile. Furthermore, TreeGraph Chain is collaborating with fintech company AnchorX to explore issuing a stablecoin (AxCNH) pegged to the offshore RMB to support cross-border payment needs in countries along the Belt and Road Initiative.
Who is more likely to become the technical foundation of stablecoins?
In addition to the aforementioned blockchain networks with strong backing, there are also numerous consortium chains in China, including State Grid Chain (State Grid), China 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 Zhongxiang Chain Network. Most of these consortium chains are also initiated by state-owned enterprises or technology giants. They each possess unique advantages and influence in their respective fields.
But returning to the original question, does China have an internationally influential public blockchain? The answer, as of now, is likely to be a no-brainer. This is primarily due to the fact that most Chinese blockchain networks are consortium chains, which differ significantly from overseas public chains like Ethereum and Solana in terms of consensus mechanisms and economic models.
Among existing public blockchain infrastructure, the domestically produced blockchain most likely to achieve international recognition is TreeGraph. From a technical perspective, TreeGraph possesses the characteristics of an internationally accepted public blockchain, boasting technological originality and performance advantages. Its official background and clear plans to explore offshore RMB stablecoins have given it a leading position in the stablecoin market.
Among other blockchain networks, Chang'an Chain has also become the underlying architecture for stablecoin issuance. In 2021, its R&D arm, the Institute of Microchips, signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Central Bank's Digital Research Institute to jointly promote enterprise-level digital RMB applications based on Chang'an Chain. Furthermore, Chang'an Chain's technical features also support token design, meeting the technical requirements for stablecoin issuance. Its strong ecosystem of central state-owned enterprises gives it a natural advantage in promoting stablecoin applications among institutions or for specific scenarios.
Of course, in addition to this, as listed companies in many European and American countries begin to use cryptocurrencies as treasury and participate in the governance of public chains, China's public chain journey may have a third option, that is, to participate in the governance of international mainstream public chains. After all, in the decentralized world, the difference between national borders is often just a difference in the percentage of computing power.
