Beijing’s blockchain supremacy plan gives shot in arm to start-ups, although dampers remain on bitcoin

Beijing’s latest plan to build China into a world leader in blockchain technology has given the country’s start-ups a much-needed shot in the arm, boosting a wide array of applications and industries, apart from bitcoin, industry insiders and investors say.

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) published a plan this week to create an “advanced blockchain industrial system” and cultivate globally competitive national blockchain champions by establishing industrial standards, tax incentives and intellectual property protections.