China reveals huge blockchain cluster that could be a taste of our dystopian future

Chinese media have revealed details on the country’s huge blockchain effort to handle its population’s data, and what it’s capable of is almost unthinkable. 

According to BJD, the Beijing behemoth which has been dubbed the ‘Honeycomb’ comprises 1,000 high-performance servers, the sum of which is able to handle 240 million smart contract transactions every single second.

It’s said that data security and privacy, with a large portion of data verification, will underpin the transactions across a number of industries including travel, online shopping, hospital registrations, financial settlements between enterprises, government collaboration, and much more.

‘Honeycomb’ blockchain cluster

The country’s two-year-old home-grown “independently controllable blockchain software and hardware technology system”, Chang’an Chain, is behind this latest Beijing development. 

Some have touted this as a significant moment for China, as countries like the US have imposed a number of restrictions that prevent the trade of certain technologies.

The fact that the country is able to sustain such significant builds and developments is a testament to the fact that it may no longer require other countries’ inputs, placing it ahead of many.

BJD claims that the blockchain cluster could serve to break up “information islands” and allow over 80 departments and 16 districts to collaborate and share data more effectively, all in an effort to nail the “coordination” of its governance system.

The report indicates that it would “greatly facilitate people’s lives”, however for many, it may just be one more step in the wrong direction as the Republic continues to gather more data on its citizens.

• Read our pick of the best cloud hosting providers

Via The Register