The Blockchain-Based Service Network: The People's Republic of China's Implementation of Digital Authoritarianism in Web3

Web3, the new iteration of the internet, is vying to put power back in the hands of users around the world. Web3 technologies like blockchain hold tremendous promise in enabling this vision with a broad range of applications, from modernizing existing financial systems to changing the way individuals interact with one another in the digital world. While the ethos of Web3 is decentralization, the People's Republic of China (PRC) is shaping its own vision of Web3 according to its principles of authoritarian rule—outlawing uncontrollable technologies like cryptocurrencies while simultaneously developing Web3-inspired projects like the Blockchain-based Service Network to influence global technology standards. Despite the promise of Web3 to decentralize the internet, the PRC is using Web3 as a tool for further control.