China Has Three Times More Blockchain Patent Filings Than US

The number of blockchain technology-related patents filed in China till the end of 2018 is three times higher than those registered in the U.S., the Nikkei reported on Thursday.

Citing data from Tokyo-based research firm Astamuse, Nikkei said that China received 7,600 blockchain-related patent applications between 2009 and 2018.

Blockchain technology is a type of the distributed ledger technology behind the decentralized currency Bitcoin.

According to Astamuse Data, the U.S., China, Japan, South Korea, and Germany received 100 to 200 blockchain-related patent filings between them till 2014.

With blockchain’s rise in popularity, the total number of filings skyrocketed to 12,000 between the six countries by 2018, with China accounting for more than 63% of all applications, Astamuse said.

Among other countries, South Korea received 1,150 filings; Japan received 380.

The Chinese government, while cracking down on cryptocurrency trading in the country, has welcomed the use of blockchain technology within the regulatory framework.

In October, China’s President Xi Jinping called for increased research and investment into blockchain technology, the South China Morning Post reported at the time.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government seems to lack any formal initiative on increasing the adoption of blockchain technology in the country, as Wharton Business School’s Knowledge@Wharton Journal noted in April.