China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to publish ratings for blockchain projects – including bitcoin
First projects to be rated will include 28 virtual currencies, according to institute responsible for advising on technology policymaking
A research unit under China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on Friday it would produce ratings for blockchain projects, in the latest effort by Beijing to regulate the technology that underpins virtual currencies such as bitcoin.
Blockchain is a digital data structure that is most recognised for verifying and recording transactions using a network of computers rather than a centralised authority.
The first batch of blockchain projects that will be rated are 28 virtual currencies and tokens, including bitcoin, ethereum, ripple, litecoin, bitcoin cash, NEO, Verge and Stratis, according to a post by a media website owned by the China Center for Information Industry Development (CIID), the institute that is responsible for advising on policymaking in technology.
The ratings will be published “shortly” and exclusively on the CIID official site.
The government-backed institute has outlined five criteria for a rating: the project must have an independent blockchain; second, it is a public chain on which nodes, computers connected to the network, can be built freely; third, there is an online blockchain browser which displays the contents of individual blocks and transaction: fourth, the source code of the project can be inspected and lastly, there is a project site and contact details of the team must be available.