Baidu Launches DApps Development Beta on Xuperchain

Chinese technology giant Baidu on Monday launched a Blockchain Blockchain Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned). In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data, making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamp Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned). In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data, making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamp Read this Term-based service for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), easing the development of decentralized applications (DApps).

Reported by state-owned news outlet STCN, the new service will allow developers to build DApps without building their own decentralized network.

Primarily, the goal of the company is to make the DApps development process more efficient, and it will provide developers with Smart Contract Smart Contract A smart contract is a piece of software that automatically executes a pre-determined set of actions when a certain set of criteria or met. One of the key tenets of smart contracts is their ability to perform credible transactions without third parties and are self-executing, with their conditions written into the lines of code that form themAdditionally, these transactions are both trackable and irreversible. For example, a smart contract could be used to give royalty payouts to a musical artist A smart contract is a piece of software that automatically executes a pre-determined set of actions when a certain set of criteria or met. One of the key tenets of smart contracts is their ability to perform credible transactions without third parties and are self-executing, with their conditions written into the lines of code that form themAdditionally, these transactions are both trackable and irreversible. For example, a smart contract could be used to give royalty payouts to a musical artist Read this Term templates and other functional components.

The new service will be based on the internet giant’s proprietary enterprise blockchain Xuperchain. Per the company, its decentralized network has 3.5 million users and processed over 450 million to date. Several reputable institutions and companies, including Tsinghua University and local streaming services giant iQiyi, also manage the nodes of the network, facilitating the verification of transactions.

The company even open-sourced the underlying code of Xuperchain last May.

The report also outlined that the new SME-focused service will be budget-friendly, and users can utilize it for 1 yuan (around $0.14) with its quantity-based fee structure until March.

Capitalizing on blockchain

Known as the Chinese version of Google to the rest of the world, Baidu is investing heavily in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain.

The efforts of the company were boosted when Beijing endorsed blockchain technology and encouraged companies to capitalize on it. Baidu is also among the 197 companies developing blockchain tech that are approved by the country’s internet censorship agency.

With its new service, Baidu has entered into the arena of much-talked blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS). Last year, the tech giant also launched an operating system, Baidu Blockchain Engine (BBE), for the development of DApps.

Meanwhile, other Chinese technology giants, including Tencent and JD, are also jumping into the BaaS business and have already published whitepapers for their proposed platforms.