Conflux Network, China Telecom unveil blockchain-based SIM card

Conflux Network, a public blockchain backed by the Chinese government, on Tuesday unveiled its first blockchain-based SIM card, or BSIM, in a collaboration with China’s second-largest wireless carrier China Telecom.

See related article: China’s ‘Instagram’ gets NFT makeover with Conflux

Fast facts

• The BSIM card will allow users to access blockchain-based functions such as on-chain data storage, digital identity verification, management of digital assets, as well as improve mobile phones’ defence against cyber attacks, according to a Twitter post by Conflux on Tuesday.
• At the launch event, Conflux Network Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer Ming Wu transferred a commemorative NFT from Conflux’s BSIM card account to China Telecom’s to mark the partnership.
• A BSIM card looks the same as an ordinary SIM and is compatible with both Android and IOS operating systems, but packs 10-20 times larger storage space and a computing power several dozen times stronger, according to Fan Long, Conflux Founder and President of the Tree-Graph Research Institute, the research team behind the Conflux Network.
• The BSIM card will be piloted in Hong Kong, which is seeking to build itself into a global hub of the Web 3.0 industry, and then introduced to mainland China and overseas markets.
• The Tree-Graph Research Institute was established in 2020 to further the development of the Conflux blockchain, and is supported by the municipal government of Shanghai.
• The Institute is involved in the drafting of IEEE P3217 – an international blockchain standard by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers to define the interface between blockchain and blockchain applications, which is set to be published in June 2023, according to a Wednesday report by state media Xinhua News Agency.
• Launched in 2018, Conflux Network is a layer 1 blockchain that claims to be the only regulatory-compliant public blockchain in China, and has collaborated with a number of enterprises and government entities on blockchain and metaverse initiatives in the country.
• Following the launch event of the BSIM card, the price of Conflux CFX, the native token of the Conflux blockchain, reached a ten-day high of US$0.3253 on May 16. The token was trading at US$0.3007 as of 11:30 a.m. in Hong Kong, up over 15% for the week, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

See related article: Conflux launches Tethys mainnet in China with government thumbs up