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LayerZero, the interoperability protocol fresh off a deal with Google Cloud, is eyeing expansion into China.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Conflux and LayerZero announced a collaboration today on the upcoming blockchain-based SIM card (BSIM), co-developed by Conflux and China Telecom. Users of this BSIM will have the capability to transfer assets and messages between chains using LayerZero.<\/p>\n
Conflux is a Singapore-registered public blockchain with a rare foothold in China. The layer-1 announced BSIM along with China Telecom in February. They said<\/a> at the time that the project would be piloted in Hong Kong later this year before rolling out in China. The SIM cards are meant to allow users to securely store private keys on their phones.\u00a0<\/p>\n As BSIM cards await their pilot program launch, Conflux\u2019s usership has been languishing<\/a> \u2014 seeing around 20,000 transactions per day since April after staying mostly above 40,000 in the first quarter of 2023, according to data compiled by ConfluxScan.\u00a0<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong> Google Cloud is LayerZero\u2019s new default oracle operator<\/a><\/p>\n Through partnering with LayerZero, Conflux hopes to allow eventual BSIM users to move assets stored on the blockchain-enabled SIM cards from Conflux to other chains.<\/p>\n LayerZero is a cross-chain messaging protocol that cuts down on intermediaries needed to move assets or information between chains. Ethereum layer-2 protocols Arbitrum and Optimism are the most-used LayerZero nodes<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a written statement shared with Blockworks, LayerZero Labs CEO Bryan Pellegrino affirmed that through the Conflux integration, LayerZero is expanding into the Asia Pacific region, which Pellegrino said \u201chas historically been a first mover in Web3.\u201d<\/p>\n Pellegrino also said BSIM is looking to tap into some of China Telecom\u2019s 390 million users.<\/p>\n China has cracked down<\/a> on crypto trading and mining in years past, but Hong Kong\u2019s recent move to allow some crypto retail trading<\/a> \u2014 and China\u2019s silence on the matter \u2014 has made some wonder whether China is softening on crypto as well.<\/p>\n \u201c[T]he apparent tacit approval of Hong Kong\u2019s new crypto initiatives could possibly signal that the Chinese government\u2019s stance on cryptocurrency is evolving,\u201d a Chainalysis report<\/a> released Monday said.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t miss the next big story \u2013 join our\u00a0free daily newsletter<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n
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