Huobi joins China telecom and finance giants to form state-backed blockchain alliance

The Chinese branch of cryptocurrency exchange Huobi is one of the first members of the Blockchain Services Network (BSN), an industry alliance initiated by the State Information Center (SIC), according to several Chinese news sites. 

The membership was announced on Dec. 1 in a conference partially sponsored by the SIC. In addition to Huobi, the alliance has also recruited China's equivalence to VISA, China UnionPay, state-backed telecom giants China Mobile and China Telecom, China Merchants Bank International, and Tencent-backed WeBank. 

According to a report by Xinhua News, BSN aims to provide a blockchain infrastructure services platform that bridges different blockchain networks, regions, and institutions. The platform, developed by China UnionPay and China Mobile, has been "successfully deployed," wrote the report. 

In September, Huobi officially announced its China headquarter in the province of Hainan. According to a Dec. 1 report by the People.com.cn, Hainan's Financial Supervisory Authority president Yang Chen said the region is adopting a sandbox model to test fintech and blockchain technology.