Report: Huawei & Chinese Government May Work Together on Blockchain 14
Business and Finance

Report: Huawei & Chinese Government May Work Together on Blockchain

By Nick Chongon

Huawei Delves Into Blockchain: Report

According to a report from Alice Crypto, a blockchain industry member seemingly based in China, that was shared by popular cryptocurrency content creator BoxMining, Huawei might be getting into this nascent technological class.

Speaking at an event, a Huawei representative announced on stage that they are working with “government institutions of Beijing” on a blockchain application. The roughly translated version of the announcement states that the blockchain initiative will be for data sharing between the Beijing bureaus of medical insurance, taxation, and other facets of local government. Eventually, the chain may support the transfer of data between regions in China, presumably to increase the efficiency of law enforcement and logistical processes.

While it would make sense for one of China’s largest and most prominent companies to work on blockchain technology and applications with the local government, what’s interesting is that this news comes shortly after the chief executive of the behemoth revealed slight skepticism of Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, and ledger technologies in general.

According to the chief executive of Huawei, Ren Zhengfei, quantum computers will kill cryptocurrencies.

In a video published on Wednesday, shared by Chinese crypto venture capitalist Dovey Wan, Ren said that blockchain and cryptocurrencies are unlikely to have a future, specifically due to the computing power that quantum devices have. According to Wan, Ren even stated that this technological class is “worthless” in the face of quantum computing.

The clip was short — some 39 seconds — but the fact that one of the world’s most influential technologists isn’t a fan of blockchain technologies, in a country where the adoption of the technology is the biggest fad no less, carries a lot of weight.

Is Quantum Really a Threat to Crypto & Blockchain? 

As reported by Ethereum World News previously, though, these fears may be irrational. Fortune, for instance, wrote:

“For the moment, the public-private key encryption techniques on which bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are based cannot be broken by a quantum computer.”

Also, legendary Bitcoin proponent, technologist, and educator explained that not only can Bitcoin adapt to the quantum threat but there is no guarantee that the government or any actor that has such a device will use it to crack SHA-256. He specifically looks to the fact that there are clearly much more high-profile targets — everything from online banking to the nuclear codes of the world.

Title Image Courtesy of Unsplash