Baidu is considered to be the Google of China and for good reason. It has an insanely broad range of products and services that help the Chinese people navigate the wonderous world of the internet. Despite China’s recent crackdown on crypto activity, companies are still moving into the blockchain space. It appears as if the Chinese government has taken the approach of Blockchain not Bitcoin – which is seen by many as a sign that the crypto world is misunderstood.
Baidu has joined in with the crypto culling, shutting down a number of crypto-related forums, but it appears it’s turning to blockchain for the next step in its evolution. It has released its white paper that outlines its plans for a new Super Chain solution.
One Chain to Rule Them All
Baidu’s Super Chain – or Xuper Chain – has an interesting structure in that it is comprised of multiple chains. There will be one master chain – also known as the root chain – then a handful of side chains. These side chains can transmit and receive data with the root chain, and with other side chains through the root chain. Each side chain can select its own consensus method – dubbed pluggable consensus mechanism – and allows for escalation through a voting system. Baidu’s new Super Chain clearly has a lot of power behind it – that much is obvious.
Why So Many Chains?
The reason for Super Chain to have so many integrated side chains is rather simple – to manage all of Baidu’s platforms. Similarly to Google in the west, Baidu has a whole suite of programs and each chain will manage part of that suite. For example, Baidu Totem – an image rights management platform – will run using one of the various side chains. It will be able to connect with the Baidu Baike – the Chinese Wikipedia – by relaying data through the root chain. Each service run by Baidu will therefore have its very own side chain and they will be interconnected using the root chain.
Setup for Multiple Uses
Fortunately, Baidu is in this for the money and it will be integrating its Super Chain technology with other industries. In the white paper it mentions that it will start by focusing its technology on food safety, tourism, travel, and supply chain management to mention a few. It could also be used in cases such as with Wuchang rice, whereby the Wuchang province is placing its rice onto a blockchain to prevent counterfeiters from forging its prestigious product. The possibilities for Baidu’s Super Chain are nearly endless.
Baidu first presented the Super Chain back in June, and now it has finally published its white paper – along with receiving over 50 patents for it. It could still be another few months before we start seeing the Super Chain come online, but when it’s live it will revolutionize the way Chinese internet users interact with the world.
