全球問題的FinTech解決方案

導語

以太坊問世五周年，不斷推動金融科技創新👩🏼‍🎨，也對監管提出了更多挑戰：去化還是包容？下一個五年也許能給出答案。中國BSN國際官網成形，或將成為連接世界、推動貿易🏊🏼‍♀️、促進合作的全球信任網絡骨幹。此外，區塊鏈技術在醫療信息管理🤖、金融欺詐預防等領域的創新，也勢將推動金融科技在全球問題中扮演越來越重要的角色。

拉至底部◀️，閱讀英文原文

以太坊五周年：去化還是包容？

以太坊問世已逾5年。其作為當年僅21歲的創始人維塔利克˙布特林（Vitalik Buterin）推出的一款“去化應用平臺”，已成為迄今為止功能最強大的區塊鏈工具之一。在這個平臺上，智能合約管理著從金融交易到數字藝術的一切👆🏿。

從那時起👩🏿‍🔬，區塊鏈被重新構想，其應用覆蓋了主權貨幣管理🟡，這與比特幣早期采用者的最初理念相去甚遠。事實上👩🏼‍🦲，在過去幾個月中🤏🏻，凯捷体育娱乐泛海凯捷金融科技研究發布了一系列報告🪪，分析了區塊鏈如何助力諸如公共衛生等復雜信息系統的管理。以太坊已經證明🧄，通過擴展鏈的新用途𓀅，可促進其生態的繁榮，成為最受開發人員歡迎的鏈，並引領資產通證化🧗🏻‍♂️、分布式金融以及潛在的去化自治組織（DAOs）等基礎開發。

展望未來5年，去化自治組織的興起或將模糊金融機構之間的界限，這些機構主要是實行集中管理的實體企業，盡管它們也可能觸及網絡業務🧑🏻‍🍳。通過利用私有/許可網絡🧛🏻‍♀️，以太坊已經在金融機構內部得到采用和調整🎶。但是，我們也看到由監管機構引領的區塊鏈應用在挑戰我們的既有觀念，即一個完全包容的網絡也需要監管者參與其中𓀚。區塊鏈技術的目標是去化還是將參與度最大化🉑？市場能否既透明又集中？雖然當時存在爭議💁🏽‍♀️，以太坊仍向我們展示了幹預（在這種情況下👩🏿‍💼，交易的逆轉可能是所有區塊鏈禁忌中最糟糕的）是強大的♙，有時也可能是最好的🛌🏻。

如今🏄🏽‍♀️📆，像Axoni這樣的大型初創企業正在展示區塊鏈能夠為金融業帶來的價值，而像摩根大通這樣的大型公司則在開發自己的區塊鏈產品👸🏽。由此來看，以太坊的廣受青睞也是其最大的風險之一，因為面對全球成千上萬的用戶（未來可能還會增加數十億），其骨幹基礎設施仍然不足。希望像許多人預測的👨‍👨‍👦，2020年底的全面調整可以繼續推動金融科技的增長和機遇。

BSN🎣：向全球信任網絡骨幹邁進

於2020年4月25日啟動的區塊鏈服務網絡（BSN👩🏻，Block-chain-based Service Network）♟，作為主要的區塊鏈互操作性基礎設施網絡🪶，是中國國家區塊鏈戰略的一部分，代表了互操作性標準的基礎架構，可允許不同的區塊鏈、IT和數據生態系統無縫、統一地互操作。 它是一種用於分布式應用程序的跨雲、跨門戶和跨鏈的全球公共基礎架構🤏。

BSN由中國國家信息、中國移動、中國銀聯和紅棗科技（Red Date Technology）聯合發起，並已整合了中國大部分頭部私有/許可區塊鏈框架。2020年7月31日，它宣布整合以太坊🚃、EOS和Tezos🧑🏽‍🦰。諸如亞馬遜網絡服務（Amazon Web Services）、谷歌雲存儲（Google Drive）、微軟雲（Microsoft Azure ）和百度雲等雲服務提供商也已被整合，從而能夠提供超低成本的區塊鏈雲服務。 目前♊️，BSN在全球範圍內部署了130多個公共城市節點🫱🏻🧖🏽‍♀️，覆蓋了中國所有省、區、市和主要城市❗️，並分布在全球六大洲的國際節點。 到2020年底，BSN計劃在中國主要城市擁有超過200個節點🧚。

每個國家都有相關法律法規來管理互聯網和區塊鏈技術的部署和使用。 BSN旨在成為一個全球互操作性網絡，因此必須遵守中國的相關法規，並適應其他國際區塊鏈生態系統🙇🧜。2020年8月10日，面向全球用戶和開發人員的BSN國際官網上線，紅棗科技負責開發BSN國際的技術路線圖、實施和治理。隨著BSN國際官網成型，BSN或將很快成為連接世界、推動貿易🧱、促進合作的全球信任網絡的骨幹。

WHO和全球公共衛生信息：疫情撬動下的區塊鏈創新

危機往往促進發展。新冠肺炎疫情激發了醫療信息管理領域采用區塊鏈技術的創新👼🏿。2020年2月和3月，金融科技研究發表文章👩‍👧，討論了區塊鏈技術如何提升傳染病報告並改善預警系統。 通過將定位技術🍾、人工智能和其他工具應用於傳染病的管理和預防中，我們可以極大提高疫情早期識別能力🍆。 一如既往🙍🏽‍♀️，可信、可靠的數據仍然是關鍵。

2020年3月28日，世界衛生組織（WHO）宣布與技術公司IBM🎏、甲骨文、區塊鏈平臺Hacera和微軟建立合作夥伴關系，推出基於平臺的分布式賬本MiPasa，以促進新冠肺炎疫情相關的數據共享🔦🪴。各國衛生機構（包括美國、歐洲和中國的主管部門）都對該項目做出了貢獻。 該平臺可以監測和運行有關本地和全球流行病趨勢的預測模型💦👨🏼‍💼。

同樣，阿拉伯聯合酋長國社區發展部（MOCD）正在采用分布式賬本技術（DLT）解決方案來進行身份驗證和分發官方文件📼，從而使客戶能夠在家中安全地與MOCD進行互動。中國還在許多應用程序中部署了區塊鏈以抗擊新冠肺炎疫情🙎🏻‍♀️，並使用DLT跟蹤病毒的傳播以及醫療物資和捐贈的分發。

與此形成對比，美國政府宣布將於凯捷体育娱乐 -（限时活动）即刻加入，享受平台优惠！年7月退出世界衛生組織👐🏻。自1948年成立以來🍄‍🟫，世衛組織一直致力於“促進健康，維護世界安全和為弱勢群體服務”。在世衛組織協調製定針對新冠肺炎疫情疫苗的全球倡議時，美國選擇了退出，這對信息共享造成了嚴重障礙，並可能導致更多人喪生。 最終🧭，這將損害美國與其他國家的雙方利益🫥，因為美國將不再從其他國家的工作中受益🧛🏽‍♀️，國際社會也將失去美國的信息和專業知識。正如北卡羅來納大學教堂山分校全球衛生政策副教授本傑明·梅森·邁耶（Benjamin Mason Meyer）所言：“美國可以停止一切交流🦵🏽，可以尋求在美國與世界其他地區之間建立隔離墻，但是我們 一次又一次地看到，這些墻壁無法阻隔疾病🔍。”

在我們推進這些努力並應對未來可能出現的任何挑戰時🚵🏻‍♀️，部署在醫院和機構一級具有分布式信息的去化網絡可能是重要的工具。 醫學專家之間的合作和數據共享是至關重要的🙆🏿‍♀️。如果政客們不能為解決方案提供資金，也許技術可以🥤。

Wirecard醜聞：德國的“安然事件”

無論是鑒於中國咖啡巨頭瑞幸的會計違規行為，還是在最近德國支付巨頭Wirecard陷入的欺詐訴訟中，人們都不禁會想知道現有系統是否根本不適合提供必須的透明度、驗證性和欺詐檢測水平🖥。 而金融科技的發展已經使其部署成為可能，而且效率相對較高。

就Wirecard而言，這家德國付款處理商和金融服務提供商曾躋身德國DAX指數的30家上市公司之列🎅🏿。2020年6月26日，該公司市值損失近120億美元🌴，股價跌幅近90％。就在此前一天，該公司董事會披露Wirecard將申請破產，主要原因是Wirecard資產負債表上有19億歐元不知去向。該醜聞是近年來最大的會計舞弊之一，以至於一些人稱其為“德國的安然”。

重要的是👩🏻‍🚀，盡管該醜聞直到2020年才爆發，但自2008年以來就一直有針對該公司不法行為的指控📽。“吹哨人”聲稱👨🏿‍🚒，Wirecard一直在進行會計欺詐✍🏿，通過報告虛假交易來增加收入。據路透社報道，Wirecard偽造了其三分之二的銷售額，具體方式是將欺詐活動隱藏在通過第三方執行的、眼花繚亂的收購活動中。據報道，2019年，Wirecard全球收入的一半和幾乎所有利潤都是通過這些第三方處理的☝️，而這些第三方交易在功能上是不透明的🙈。

人們只能猜測🤟🏽，如果金融機構和監管機構采用了區塊鏈技術來提供透明度、可追蹤性和有效監控👩🏼，多少投資者財富本可能免遭其難。隨著數據和驗證的改進，對賬戶持有人的強化審查（KYC）和反洗錢（AML）幾乎可以肯定得到改善。同時，早期發現人工智能可能會在危害累積到破產程度之前，阻止惡意行為👩‍🦱。 同樣重要的是🥶，這種性質的新聞似乎經常出現，雖然以不同的嚴重程度和頻率發生🏂🏼，但的確持續不斷💝。在常態化采用這些改進技術之前，我們聽到下一個“安然事件”可能只是時間問題。

Global Questions, Fintech Solutions

Charles Chang 

Deputy Dean of Academics, Professor of Finance and Director of the Fintech Research Center at Fanhai International School of Finance, Fudan University

Michael Sung  

Associate Professor of Practice in Finance at Fanhai International School of Finance and the Co-director of the Fintech Research Center at Fanhai International School of Finance, Fudan University

Richard Wang  

 Associate Director of the Fintech Research Center at Fanhai International School of Finance, Fudan University

Chaoying Qi

 Senior Research Associate of the Fintech Research Center at Fanhai International School of Finance, Fudan University

Powerful Intervention for DAOs

It’s been 5 years this July since the world was introduced to Ethereum. Pioneer Vitalik Buterin, then just 21 years old, delivered one of the most powerful Blockchain tools ever created, a “decentralized application platform” where smart contracts govern everything from financial transactions to digital art. 

Since then, blockchains have been reimagined with applications include management of sovereign currency, a far cry from the original philosophies of bitcoin early adopters. Indeed, over the past few months, our Fintech Research Center has published reports on how Blockchain can help to manage complex information systems like those of public health. Ethereum has demonstrated that, by expanding novel uses of its chain, it could prosper, becoming the most popular chain for developers and spearheading fundamental developments like asset tokenization, decentralized finance, and potentially decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).

As we look to the next 5 years, the rise of these DAOs may start to blur the line between financial institutions, principally brick-and-mortar companies with centralized management despite their online tentacles. Ethereum has already been adopted and adapted within financial institutions, taking advantage of private/permissioned networks, but we are also seeing applications of blockchains in which regulatory bodies are taking the lead, challenging us with the notion that a fully inclusive network is one where regulators are also involved. Is the goal decentralization or inclusion? Can a market be both transparent and centralized? While contentious at the time, Ethereum showed us that intervention (in this case, the reversal of transactions perhaps being the most egregious of all Blockchain no-no’s) is both powerful and, sometimes, best. 

Today, mega-start-ups like Axoni are showing the value that Blockchain can deliver to the financial industry and mega-corporations like JP Morgan are developing chains of their own. From here, Ethereum’s massive popularity is also one of its greatest risks as its backbone infrastructure is still inadequate in the face of hundreds of millions of users emerging world-wide (and perhaps billions more in years to come). Let’s hope that the overhaul that many are predicting at the end of 2020 will continue to fuel growth and opportunity in Fintech. 

Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN)

Launched on April 25, 2020, the BSN, a major blockchain interoperability infrastructure network, is part of China’s National Blockchain Strategy and represents an interoperability standard foundational infrastructure that allows different blockchain, IT, and datacenter ecosystems to interoperate in a seamless and unified way. It is a cross-cloud, cross-portal, and cross-chain global public infrastructure for distributed apps.

The BSN was jointly initiated by the China State Information Center, China Mobile, China UnionPay and Red Date Technology and has integrated most of the top private/permissioned blockchain frameworks in China. On July 31, 2020, it announced integrations with Ethereum, EOS, and Tezos. Cloud service providers such as Amazon Web Services, Google Drive, Microsoft Azure, and Baidu Cloud are also integrated to be able to provide ultra-low cost blockchain cloud services. The BSN currently has global deployment of over 130 public city nodes, covering all provinces and major cities in China as well as international nodes distributed across six continents. The BSN is slated to have over 200 nodes in major cities across China by the end of 2020. 

Each country has laws and regulations to govern the deployment and use of the Internet and blockchain technology. The BSN is meant to be a global interoperability network so must comply with related regulation in China but must also accommodate other international blockchain ecosystems. The official BSN International portal for global users and developers was launched August 10, 2020, and Red Date Technology has been tasked with developing BSN International’s technology roadmap, implementation, and governance. With the formation of BSN International, the BSN may soon become the global backbone for trust network that will connect the world, facilitate global trade, and foster collaboration.

The WHO and Global Public Health Information 

Crisis often also breeds progress and COVID-19 has inspired innovation in medical information management through the adoption of blockchain technology. In February and March of 2020, the Fintech Research Center published articles discussing how blockchain technology can enhance infectious disease reporting and improve early warning systems. By applying positioning technology, AI and other tools to the management and prevention of infectious diseases, we can vastly improve early epidemic identification. As always, credible, reliable data remains the key. 

On March 28, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced a partnership with technology companies IBM, Oracle, Blockchain platform Hacera, and Microsoft to launch MiPasa, a platform-based distributed ledger, to promote data sharing related to COVID-19. Health agencies in various countries (including authorities in the United States, Europe and China) have contributed to the project. The platform can monitor and run predictive models on local and global epidemic trends.

Similarly, the Ministry of Community Development (MOCD) of the United Arab Emirates is adopting distributed ledger technology (DLT) solutions for identity verification and distribution of official documents, enabling customers to interact with MOCD safely from home. China has also deployed blockchain in many applications to fight the pandemic and uses DLT to track the spread of the virus and the distribution of medical supplies and donations. 

In contrast, the US government announced that it will be withdrawing from the WHO in July 凯捷体育娱乐 -（限时活动）即刻加入，享受平台优惠！. Since its establishment in 1948, the WHO has been committed to "promoting health, maintaining world safety and serving vulnerable groups" . The US withdraw from the WHO at a time where it is coordinating the global initiative to develop a vaccine against COVID-19 introduces a critical impediment to information sharing that may result in more lives lost. This, ultimately, hurts both sides as the US will no longer benefit from the work of other nations, and the international community will lose the information and expertise of the US. As Benjamin Mason Meyer, Associate Professor of global health policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, opined, “The US can stop all communication and can seek to build a wall between the United States and the rest of the world, but we have time and time again, seen that these walls will not block the disease." 

Decentralized networks with distributed information at the hospital and agency levels may be an important tool as we forward in these efforts and for any future challenges that may lie ahead. The cooperation between medical experts and sharing of data is paramount, and if politicians cannot fund a solution, perhaps technology can. 

The Wirecard Scandal

Whether in the case of accounting irregularities for coffee giant Luckin or in recent fraud proceedings with German payment giant Wirecard, one cannot be help but wonder if existing systems are simply not suited to provide the level of transparency, validation, and fraud detection that advances in fintech have made both possible and relatively efficient to deploy. 

In the case of the Wirecard, the German payment processor and financial services provider was once among the 30 listed companies on Germany’s DAX index.  On June 26, 2020, it lost nearly US$12 billion in market value, a nearly 90% share price drop, a day after its board revealed that it would be filing for insolvency owing principally to €1.9bn missing from Wirecard’s balance sheet. This scandal is among the largest accounting frauds in recent history, leading some to call it “the Enron of Germany.”  

Importantly, while the scandal did not explode until 2020, there have been allegations of wrongdoing since 2008.  Whistler-blowers claimed that Wirecard had been engaging in accounting fraud to inflate revenues by reporting false transactions. According to Reuters, Wirecard falsified two-thirds of its sales, enabled by a strategy of hiding the fraudulent activities in a nebula of acquisitions executed through third-party. In 2019, it was reported that half of Wirecard's worldwide revenue and almost all of its profits were processed through these third parties, for which transactions were functionally opaque.

One can only conjecture as to how much investor wealth may have been protected had financial institutions and regulators employed blockchain technology to provide transparency, trackability, and effective monitoring.  With improved data and validation, KYC and AML would almost surely have been improved, and early detection AI may have prevented nefarious behavior before it could accumulate to levels that would ultimately result in insolvency. Just as importantly, it seems that news of this nature is recurrent, rearing its head in different severity and frequency, but reliably every-so-often. Until we have permanent adoption of improved technologies like those described here, it’s likely only a matter of time until we hear about the next Enron. 

*本文經原作者授權，僅代表作者個人觀點。