CasperLabs Mints ‘Agreement NFT’ With China’s BSN To Become Preferred Blockchain for the City of Fuzhou

Fuzhou, city of 8 million, will leverage an Open Permissioned Blockchain (OPB) Adaptation of The Casper Network in an NFT-based agreement between CasperLabs and BSN to bolster blockchain innovation in China

ZUG, Switzerland, Jan. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — CasperLabs, a leading blockchain software company for the enterprise market is pleased to announce a partnership with China’s Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN) that will see BSN adopt an Open Permissioned Blockchain Adaptation (OPB) of the Casper Network to serve as the preferred blockchain for the City of Fuzhou. CasperLabs is building the OPB protocol, and will be the service provider to BSN.

The BSN OPB initiative aims to transform blockchains, including public chains, to allow them to be seamlessly deployed on the BSN, which was architected and is managed day-to-day by Red Date Technology, one of the four founding members of the BSN. The chain will be called Fuzhou Chain and will be a preferred infrastructure choice for public and private blockchain initiatives in that region. The partnership between CasperLabs and BSN will add the Casper Network as Fuzhou city’s chain.

The agreement is based on the use of the BSN’s OPB, which adapts public chains to offer permissioned controls over node deployment. The BSN platform provides developers with easy onboarding into public and private blockchains to build applications with reduced operational costs, improved flexibility and better regulatory oversight.

The partnership between CasperLabs and BSN will transform the OPB iteration of the Casper Network into the preferred blockchain of Fuzhou City’s — aptly dubbed “Fuzhou Chain powered by Casper.” The Fuzhou chain will provide blockchain developers with simple access to the powerful capabilities of the OPB and will introduce the Casper Network’s unique combination of scalability, security, and decentralization to BSN national initiatives.

To commemorate the joint initiative, CasperLabs and BSN minted a multi-signature non-fungible token (NFT) / Distributed Digital Certificate, representing the mutual agreement and serving as a symbol of the innovation the parties expect to result from the partnership.

The newly minted agreement follows the Casper Network’s integration into BSN’s interoperable network back in February 2021. The integration allowed BSN developers to leverage the Casper Network to reduce operational costs associated with the creation of decentralized apps. Now, harnessing an OPB adaptation of the Casper Network, BSN aims to bolster blockchain innovation in the eight -million strong city of Fuzhou.

“We are happy to bring the Casper Network into the Chinese market as a permissioned chain. Developers and companies will soon be able to access Casper technology through BSN to deploy their applications. We will also initiate a trilateral partnership between Fuzhou City, BSN and the Casper team to set the stage for Fuzhou chain for business opportunities in China,” said Yifan He, CEO, Red Date Technology and Director, BSN Development Association.

Founded in 2019, the BSN (Blockchain-based Service Network) China is an infrastructure initiative to accelerate blockchain adoption globally. The BSN is a platform that provides developers with easy onboarding into public and private blockchains they can use to build applications with reduced operational costs and improved flexibility. Since its launch the BSN has deployed more than 140 virtual data centers across the globe dedicated to running and processing transactions on the blockchain networks supported by BSN. The vision of the BSN is bringing low-cost, efficient and flexible blockchain development environments to developers around the world.

In October 2021, Red Date announced it would launch the necessary infrastructure for an OPB by the end of January, with the expectation of widespread use of NFTs in China in the next five years. Since its launch, the BSN has deployed more than 120 public city nodes across China, serving as data centers dedicated to running and processing transactions on the blockchain networks supported by BSN.

Mrinal Manohar, CasperLabs CEO and co-founder, comments: “This partnership provides the Casper Network with the opportunity to bring new blockchain capabilities, advice and support to the people of Fuzhou. By partnering with Casper, the BSN gains from Casper’s scalability, security, and decentralization. The use of (OPB) eliminates the use of cryptocurrencies to pay for gas fees. All combined, this makes it much simpler for developers in and around Fuzhou to generate public and private blockchain applications at a lower cost.”

Powering Fuzhou’s blockchain also has special personal significance for CasperLabs. CasperLabs CTO Medha Parlikar practices a form of martial arts that has its roots in Fuzhou, and she feels connected to the city through this activity.

Omer Ozden, Chairman of RockTree Capital, who was critical in forming the cross-border East-West partnership notes: “RockTree is honored to have helped bring together BSN and CasperLabs to evolve the joint venture further and celebrate the initiative with the City of Fuzhou. We see this as a massive display of confidence in Casper technology, and the deep integration that Red Date is undertaking to advance innovation with government, state owned enterprises and private enterprises in China.

About CasperLabs
CasperLabs, a leading blockchain software company for the enterprise market, is re-imagining blockchain for enterprise with a future proof solution. The company also provides development, support and advisory services for organizations building on the Casper network. Guided by open-source principles, CasperLabs is committed to supporting the next wave of blockchain adoption among businesses and providing developers with a reliable and secure framework to build private, public and hybrid blockchain applications. Its team possesses deep enterprise technology experience with a cumulative 100 years of enterprise experience, hailing from organizations including Google, Adobe, AWS, Dropbox and Microsoft. To learn more, visit https://casperlabs.io/

About Casper Association
The Casper Association is the nonprofit entity that oversees the ongoing evolution and decentralization of the Casper Network. It provides resources to help accelerate the adoption of Casper and its growing ecosystem of decentralized applications. To learn more, visit casper.network

About RockTree Capital
RockTree Capital, a merchant bank and fund based in China focused on blockchain projects and mobile e-commerce companies, with offices in Beijing, Shanghai, New York and Toronto. RockTree Capital invests into top-tier blockchain projects and accelerates their growth in Asia.

About BSN
The Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN) is a cross-cloud, cross-portal, and cross-framework global public infrastructure network used to develop, deploy, and maintain all types of blockchain distributed applications (DApps). BSN aims to change the existing problem of the high cost of developing and deploying blockchain applications by, just like the internet, providing public resource and interoperability environments to developers. In this way, the development and universal adoption of blockchain technology can be largely accelerated.

For more information, please contact:
Ellis Ballard
Cryptoland PR
ellis@cryptolandpr.com

EU-ASEAN Business Council Summit to Take Place in September

EU-ASEAN Business Council (ABC) Summit, a side event of the 54th ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) Meeting, was scheduled to take place in September.
The information was unveiled during a recent bilateral meeting between H.E. Ms. Tekreth Kamrong, Secretary of State for the Ministry of Commerce and Mr. Chris Humphrey, Executive Director of EU-ABC.
H.E. Ms. Tekreth Kamrong thanked the EU for its contribution to enhancing trade and investment, and highlighted the important role of EU-ABC and European Chamber of Commerce to Cambodia.
She also talked about Cambodia’s effort in economic diversification, business environment improvement, institutional and legal reforms in line with the fourth Rectangular Strategy of the Royal Government.
From his end, Mr. Chris Humphrey spoke highly of Cambodia’s socio-economic development and reiterated his effort to continue cooperating with the country.

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press

61,611 Animal Traps Removed from Protected Areas in 2021

In 2021, 61,611 wild animal traps were removed from the protected natural areas in Cambodia.
The figure was revealed on Wednesday by H.E. Neth Pheaktra, Secretary of State and Spokesperson at the Ministry of Environment, adding that the number increased by 20 percent compared with 43,270 traps destroyed in 2020.
He continued that the removed traps were mainly electric and legs breaking ones.
Wild animal trapping remain a serious threat to wildlife not only in Cambodia, but also in Asian countries and over 12 million traps have been set up in the protected areas across Asia, according to the secretary of state.
The ministry’s forest rangers also confiscated 758 homemade firearms for hunting wild animals in 2021.

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press

World’s Endangered Asiatic Black Bears Found in Cambodia

Endangered Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus) listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list of threatened species have been spotted in Cambodia’s forests.
The good news was shared on Jan. 20 by the Ministry of Environment, adding that the Asiatic black bears were founded in the protected areas in Pursat, Battambang, and Koh Kong provinces.
The researchers from the Ministry of Environment have discovered them in Cambodian wildlife sanctuaries through camera traps.
Reportedly, the extinction of the Asiatic black bears was threatened by habitat loss and poaching for illegal trade of their skin, toenails, gallstones, and captivity.
Besides, Sun Bears (Helarctos malayanus), also listed on IUCN (VU), have been shot by camera traps in Cambodian protected areas.
Sun bears are the smallest and rarest of the world’s eight living bear species. They are excellent climbers and spend considerable time in trees where they feed on sweet fruits, small rodents, birds, termites and other insects, and honey.

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press

Outcomes of the Telephone Conversation between DPM Prak Sokhonn and High Representative of EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy

Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation this morning issued a press release on the outcomes of the telephone conversation between H.E. Prak Sokhonn, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and H.E. Josep Borrell Fontelles, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on Jan. 20.
On 20th January 2022, His Excellency PRAK Sokhonn, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Cambodia, had a telephone conversation with His Excellency Josep Borrell Fontelles, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission.
His Excellency Josep Borrell Fontelles congratulated Cambodia on assuming the ASEAN Chairmanship for 2022 and His Excellency Deputy Prime Minister’s appointment as the Special Envoy of the ASEAN Chair on Myanmar. His Excellency High Representative acknowledged that the situation in Myanmar is complex and difficult. He also expressed concern regarding the on-going crisis in Myanmar and sought Cambodia’s plan to address the situation.
In response, His Excellency Deputy Prime Minster briefed the outcomes of the Visit of Samdech Techo Prime Minister HUN SEN to Myanmar from 7-8 January 2022, which served as a step forward in trying to make gain on the implementation of the 5-Pont Consensus (5PC). The Visit brought about many positive outcomes including the State Administrative Council’s pledge to extend the cease fire to the end of the year and to end violence, to support the Special Envoy to carry out the mandate and to meet all parties concerned, to facilitate a meeting with relevant stakeholders to ensure safe and indiscriminate access of humanitarian reliefs for those in need, and to reconsider of the case of Professor Sean Turnell once the Court process is over. As for the next step, His Excellency Deputy Prime Minister informed the High Representative of the arrangement for the first visit of the Special Envoy to Myanmar and the two proposed initiatives as announced by Samdech Techo Prime Minister HUN SEN as a follow-up action of his recent visit to Myanmar, namely the establishment of a mechanism composed of the ASEAN Troika and the ASEAN Secretary-General to coordinate and monitor the implementation of the 5-PC and the Consultative Meeting to discuss ways to distribute humanitarian relief in Myanmar. He also informed of the plan to set up the “Friend of Myanmar” group, an initiative by Brunei Darussalam focusing on humanitarian assistance and sough the EU support and participation. His Excellency Deputy Prime Minster stressed that the endeavours taken by Cambodia to address the crisis in Myanmar are guided by the 5-PC and the ASEAN Charter and are based on Cambodia’s past experience.

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press