A new report from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has named Ethereum the leading public blockchain.
The report from MIIT’s China Center for Industry Information Development ranked public blockchain projects on the basis of effectiveness, innovation and technical strength.
MIIT researchers gave Ethereum a total score of 129.4 in the report, putting it in top pole, while Bitcoin received a mark of 88, for13th place on the list.
According to MIIT Bitcoin received a reduced score because it does not permit the incorporation of other applications or projects.
Other top blockchains as ranked by MIIT include Steem (115.9), Lisk (104.8), NEO (103) and Komodoa (101.5).
The new MIIT index will become a permanent fixture of China’s fintech scene, with state media reporting that the ministry plans to update it on a monthly basis.
The Chinese government has demonstrated a highly ambivalent stance on blockchains as well as cryptocurrencies.
The central government launched a ban on initial coin offerings (ICO’s) and funding via cryptocurrencies in September last year, as well as cracked down on cryptocurrency trading platforms in early 2018.
While officials from the Chinese central bank has declared that “blockchains have no future as money,” regulators have also promoted the use of blockchains for other applications, including management of secondary loans and nationwide audit data.
12 of China’s listed banks launched blockchain initiatives in 2017, while state-owned giant Bank of China currently employed blockchains for most of its Hong Kong property appraisals.
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