Stephanie Douse 
Tencent has received a patent for a blockchain-based missing person poster, it took almost three years from the time of the initial submission in December 2019 until the patent was granted.
Chinese technology giant Tencent recently received a unique patent for a blockchain-based missing persons poster, according to local news source 36kr.com.
Upon user submission of a missing person report, the paten consists of a data generating request. The idea is subsequently made available to the whole public on the blockchain for validation.
Once there is agreement on the request, it is recorded in the public ledger and sent to nodes so that it can be broadcast to a larger group of people. According to Tencent’s patent application, the design aims to increase the effectiveness of missing person searches.
Though its efforts have been somewhat hampered by China’s strict legislation around cryptocurrencies, Tencent has been one of the early adopters of blockchain technology among major internet companies, especially when it comes to researching potential for integration with payment technology.
However, its “FISCO BCOS” coinless blockchain, created in 2018 in partnership with Chinese telecom giant Huawei for the development of decentralized applications, is still in use today.
Early in July, Tencent shut down one of its nonfungible tokens platforms following dropping sales and the Chinese authorities made it clear that users cannot conduct private transactions after purchasing tokens.
China is now implementing a centralized approach to blockchain technology, with legislation preferring its central bank’s digital currency, the digital yuan (e-CNY), heavily above digital tokens created by private companies.
The nation released its first social security card with e-CNY functionality last week, enabling welfare payments to be sent directly into recipients’ accounts in digital yuan and utilized for shopping.