Baidu joins global group to advance blockchain technologies

Zhang Xuyang, vice-president of Baidu.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Chinese tech company Baidu has become a member of Hyperledger, an open source collaborative effort created to advance cross-industry blockchain technologies, on Tuesday.

Among more than 160 members of Hyperledger, which is under Linux Foundation and which aims to create common distributed ledger technology that enables organizations to build and run robust, industry-specific applications, platforms and hardware systems to support their individual business transactions, are Accenture, Airbus, American Express, Cisco, CME Group, Daimler, IBM, Intel and J.P. Morgan.

"We're thrilled to be part of Hyperledger and look forward to collaborating with other members to drive open blockchain solutions forward and to boost setting up of global blockchain standards," Zhang Xuyang, vice-president of Baidu, said.

"It's exciting to see a company like Baidu, which serves the world's largest internet user population, join Hyperledger," said Brian Behlendorf, executive director of Hyperledger. "Their deep understanding in connecting users to information and services will be tremendous experience for us to leverage as we look to expand our reach further in Asia and drive more global production deployments of Hyperledger technology."

A 400 million yuan ($60.4 million) asset-backed security, which was backed by Baidu's blockchain technology, gained approval for issue on the Shanghai Securities Exchange, Shanghai Securities News reported Aug 21. The security is the first blockchain aided exchange-traded ABS in China.

Baidu, as the technology provider, built a blockchain as a service for the security, with all participating parties on this consortium blockchain, including Baidu Finance, the security provider, the brokers, the rating agency and the law firm.

Information on the asset and on the fundraising company were both disclosed via the blockchain. Baidu also ensured the authenticity, inalterability and indestructibility of this data base via the Consensus Mechanism, an algorithm, and the asymmetric cryptography technologies, both features of the blockchain.