CREATING A RESILIENT AND SUSTAINABLE BLOCKCHAIN AS-A-SERVICE FOR ALL by Selva Ozelli

By Selva Ozelli, Author of Sustainably Investing in Digital Assets Globally

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS), COP28 and Central Bank of United Arab Emirates launched TechSprint to develop technological solutions for sustainable finance and combating climate change.  This technology initiative fosters innovation in scaling sustainable finance and combating climate change.

Sustainable BlockChain A Service for All?

“Combating climate change is more urgent than ever. It calls for a profound change in the way economies operate and grow. To finance the needed transformation, investors need certainty that their funds are channelled to their intended uses. Technologies that promote the timely measurement and disclosure of climate-related information are part of the solution.

The BIS Innovation Hub has explored how to apply technologies such as AI, blockchain and internet-of-things to green finance instruments and climate-related disclosure. This TechSprint in collaboration with the COP28 UAE, the CBUAE and EIF will complement these efforts to address remaining gaps in the green finance market” explained  Agustín Carstens, General Manager of the BIS.

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This Techsprint at COP28 is being developed jointly by the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE), alongside the COP28 Presidency, the Emirates Institute of Finance (EIF) and the BIS.

“In line with the vision of the UAE’s leadership, and its endeavours to address the challenges of climate change; we value the partnership with COP28 UAE and the BIS in launching this international initiative aimed at encouraging innovators across the globe to leverage financial technology in developing new green and sustainable finance solutions” said  Khaled Mohamed Balama, Governor of the CBUAE and Chairman of EIF.

The campaign calls for technology solutions to address data verification gaps in sustainable finance in three problem statements:

—  AI solutions for sustainable finance reporting, verification, and disclosure in the financial services industry.

—  Blockchain solutions for auditing and enhancing transparency, traceability, and accountability in sustainable finance.

—  Internet-of-Things and sensor technology solutions for sustainable finance to ensure informed assessments of impact, risk, or compliance.

“COP28 looks forward to working with its partners to drive real solutions to scale up climate action and fast-track sustainable finance initiatives around the world.” Said  Dr Sultan Al Jaber, COP28 President Designate.

Blockchain solutions for sustainable finance

In Singapore, with a similar theme, the BSN Foundation announced its founding members, its role in blockchain-as-a-service on November 16, 2023.

BSN Foundation is the governing body of the BSN Spartan Networks made up of: Red Date Technology, Blockdaemon, GFT Technologies, TOKO, Zeeve.  These organizations originating from a diverse range of countries and regions, such as the U.S.A., Germany, and Hong Kong, will bring a wide range of expertise dedicated to building the next-generation global Public IT System infrastructures for internet communications, digital economies, metaverses, digital payments and NFTs based on non-cryptocurrency public chain technologies, designed to serve IT systems around the world to advance fundamental technologies that benefit all humankind.

Tim Bailey, the VP of Global Business & Operations of for Red Date Technology explained “on November 16, we announced the founding members of the BSN Foundation that governs the BSN Spartan Network. The network launched late last year with three non-cryptocurrency public chains, including non-crypto versions of sustainable, proof of stake blockchain platforms Ethereum, Cosmos and PolygonEdge.

The BSN Spartan Network provides an infrastructure that integrates non-cryptocurrency public blockchains that can be used by any traditional IT system to leverage the capabilities of the underlying blockchain technology in an easier and more cost-effective way.   The service will be offered with fixed fees based in fiat currency or USD backed stable coin and is only available outside Mainland China. The cost of using our public chain technology is significantly lower and more predictable than using cryptocurrency based public chains.”

The BSN Spartan Network is a decentralized network governed by the BSN Foundation with each member operating a governance data center that hosts all the validator nodes of non-cryptocurrency public chains.  The BSN Foundation will operate via three core committees: the Technical Committee, the Governance Committee, and the Business Committee, each overseeing a distinct set of activities such as R&D, governance coordination, and commercial matters.

Established as a decentralized governance organization, each member will have an equal voting right on governance decisions, such as integrating new blockchain protocols or adjusting network fees and will operate a Governance Data Center that hosts all the validator nodes of the non-cryptocurrency public chains.

The BSN Foundation recognizes public chain technologies as a complementary approach to conventional private IT systems, with inherent advantages such as data sharing costs, private data ownership, and transparency. These benefits have remained largely untapped by traditional enterprises due to the reluctance to get involved with unregulated cryptocurrencies.

To bridge this gap, the BSN Spartan Network, will offer a decentralized cloud service solution with non-cryptocurrency public chains as the operation systems. The network consists of virtual data centers that are open source and free to download on GitHub, where nodes of the non-cryptocurrency public chains can be selectively installed. Businesses can deploy smart contracts and build dApps on the nodes and pay gas fees on non-cryptocurrency public chains using fiat currency or fiat-backed stablecoins such as USDC.

The BSN Foundation will start with five members, with the goal of eventually growing to 40 members.  Collectively, these organizations will contribute to the BSN Foundation’s mission to pioneer public IT system development at a global level to bring a portfolio of expertise ranging from blockchain-as-a-service and real-world asset tokenization to financial services and consulting as follows:

Blockdaemon – Blockdaemon is a leading provider of enterprise-grade blockchain node deployment solutions, dedicated to streamlining and enhancing the onboarding and iteration processes for organizations utilizing BSN Spartan Network.  “At Blockdaemon, we are proud to be one of the founding members of the BSN Foundation. Our specialization in institutional-grade blockchain node deployment, validating solutions, and institutional wallet aligns perfectly with the BSN Foundation’s mission to advance decentralization.

We are committed to assisting organizations in simplifying their BSN Spartan onboarding and iteration processes with institutional-grade security. Together with the BSN Foundation and our fellow founding members, we look forward to elevating the blockchain economy” explained Andrew Vranjes, VP of Sales and General Manager of APAC at Blockdaemon

GFT Technologies- Operating in over 15 markets worldwide, GFT has more than 35 years of experience in developing sustainable solutions based on new technologies including artificial intelligence and blockchain/DLT.  “GFT is honoured to be one of the founding members of the BSN Foundation. The BSN Spartan Network’s non-cryptocurrency public chain infrastructure makes it easier for enterprises to build and deploy blockchain-based applications.

We are confident that BSN Spartan will meet our clients’ needs for a reliable, secure, and scalable public infrastructure, without the challenges of volatile cryptocurrency prices and unpredictable development costs,” said Christopher Ortiz, Group Chief Executive and Global Markets and Region Manager APAC & UK at GFT.

Red Date Technology – A technology company headquartered in Hong Kong that is dedicated to building next-generation Public IT System infrastructures for internet communications, digital economies, digital payments and NFTs.  Red Date Technology, the technical architect of the BSN Spartan Network, contributes expertise in the fundamental technologies of public IT system infrastructures for internet communications, digital economies, and digital payments.

“Building on our collaboration agreement with CloudSigma signed earlier this year to bring Enterprise BSN to the full global network of CloudSigma cloud locations, marks another significant milestone in the international expansion of the BSN (Blockchain-based Service Network).  We are building the next layer of the internet, a public layer serving public IT systems that has the benefit of greater transparency, easy connectivity, and individual ownership of data compared to private IT systems today,” said Tim Bailey, VP of Global Sales for Red Date Technology” said Tim Bailey, VP of Global Business & Operations for Red Date Technology.

TOKO – Born out of global law firm DLA Piper, TOKO is a digital asset creation platform that couples the compliance and regulatory rigor of a global law firm with the innovative technology solutions of tomorrow.  TOKO offers digital asset tokenization and legal compliance solutions based on the BSN Spartan infrastructure.  Scott Thiel, Managing Director of TOKO, says: “TOKO is excited to be one of the five initial members of the BSN Foundation.

We believe in BSN’s commitment, as a decentralized governance organization, in bringing blockchain technologies to the broader IT industry beyond cryptocurrencies. As a full market licenced Virtual Asset Broker Dealer and Exchange services VASP granted by Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA), we look forward to contributing to the foundation with our wealth of expertise in the governance and regulatory space.”

Zeeve is an enterprise-grade no-code Blockchain Infrastructure Automation platform that enables easy deployment, monitoring, and management of Blockchain nodes and networks.  Zeeve empowers over 27,000 developers with its Web3 Infrastructure Automation services and delivers plug- and-play solutions that enable traditional corporations to swiftly develop decentralized applications (dApps) on the BSN Spartan Network.

“We highly value innovation and forward-thinking approaches in our strategic partnerships,” said Dr. Ravi Chamria, Zeeve’s CEO. “The BSN Foundation’s vision aligns seamlessly with our mission to simplify and enhance blockchain adoption for enterprises. By offering a decentralized cloud service solution that operates on non-cryptocurrency public chains, the BSN Spartan Network opens up exciting possibilities for businesses to harness the benefits of blockchain technology while maintaining financial stability and regulatory compliance. We’re excited to collaborate with the BSN Foundation to empower enterprises with the most reliable Blockchain infrastructure management, enabling them to thrive in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.”

Looking toward the future, the BSN Foundation aims to expand its membership to at least 40 members, operating as a decentralized governance body. “When 40 leading international companies govern the Spartan Network as Foundation members with equal voting rights, the network will become one of the most decentralized IT infrastructures in the world”, said Yifan He, CEO of Red Date Technology.

Together, they aim to promote the concept of public IT systems that complements the existing centralized IT architectures, revolutionizing traditional business operations and data communication in a sustainable way.

More about the author

A legal and finance executive with diversified experience dealing with highly complex issues in the field of international taxation and related matters within the banking, securities, fintech, digital assets alternative and traditional investment funds (investing in equity, debt, real estate, derivatives, credit instruments, mortgage backed securities) aerospace and solar industries.

Her first of its kind legal analyses involving tax laws, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), blockchain technology have been published in journals, books and by the OECD.  Her writings have been translated in to 35 languages published in over 200 publications globally.  She is is the author of Sustainably Investing in Digital Assets Globally and  an expert TV commentator on tax and technology matters.