Chinese Internet Giant Tencent is Developing a Blockchain Platform Called ‘TrustSQL’

By Laster Coleman for CCN

Tencent Holdings Limited, a Chinese investment holding company whose subsidiaries provide media, entertainment, payment systems, the Internet and mobile phone value-added services in China, is developing in its own blockchain platform.

The new platform, TrustSQL, is designed to provide an enterprise class blockchain infrastructure to support reliable blockchain cloud services. Features include low-cost, fast access, security, an efficient consensus algorithm and transaction confirmation in seconds, according to Investopedia.

White Paper Released

Tencent’s recently-released white paper explains the history of the Internet beginning with ARPANET in 1969 to the World Wide Web nearly 20 years later. The company believes bitcoin and blockchain are bringing the third big change.

Tencent’s white paper noted the blockchain can build a more reliable Internet system. With the growing popularity of blockchain technology, the digital economy will be more credible and authentic, making society and the economy more fair and transparent.

The TrustSQL platform has three layers; a core chain layer, a product service layer and an application layer. The platform provides a framework for application development. It includes application models such as proof certificates, digital assets, shared books, stock swaps and proprietary transactions.

The platform has been introduced at a time when some banks and technology giants are working to tap its potential, such as cost reduction, and secure and faster tamper-proof transactions.

Tencent joined the Financial Blockchain Consortium in Shenzhen in 2016.

Global Data Center Expansion

The company also recently announced that its cloud computing arm, Tencent Cloud, will open five overseas data centers this year to cater to its expanding client base.

The first of these data centers opened recently in Silicon Valley. The other centers will be in Frankfurt, Moscow, Mumbai and Seoul. The new data centers serve Chinese companies looking to expand overseas, as well as global companies expanding their businesses.

Tencent went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in June 2004. It is listed over-the-counter in the U.S. where it trades under the ticker TCEHY. The company’s stock price is up 27.89% year-to-date and has a market capitalization of HK$ 2.312 trillion.