Blockchain
Financial Institutions in Singapore Develop Blockchain Settlement System
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Singapore Exchange (SGX) said on Sunday they have successfully developed Delivery versus Payment (DvP) capabilities for the...
French Data Authority Publishes First-Ever Blockchain Guidance for GDPR Compliance
The Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés (CNIL), an independent French administrative regulatory body charged with ensuring that data privacy law is applied...
Trading Firms, International Banks Launch Commodities Blockchain Platform
International banks and commodity giants have partnered with Royal Dutch Shell Plc to create komgo SA, a blockchain-based platform for financing the trade of...
IBM, CLS Partner on Blockchain Platform for Financial Services Industry
CLS, a market infrastructure group delivering settlement, processing, and data solutions, and IBM said Monday they are collaborating on a proof of concept (PoC)...
China’s Huobi Group Launches New Public Blockchain
China’s Huobi Group, a blockchain asset solutions provider, announced on Wednesday the launch of the Huobi Chain Project (HCP), with the aim of building...
CFTC Issues Guidance for Virtual Currency Products
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Division of Market Oversight (DMO) and Division of Clearing and Risk (DCR) on Monday issued a joint staff...
U.S., Canada Embark on Coordinated Actions to Crack Down on Fraudulent ICOs, Cryptocurrency Products
The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) has embarked on one of the largest coordinated series of enforcement actions by state and provincial securities...
NY Authorizes Gemini to Offer Trading of Emerging Digital Currency Zcash
Financial Services Superintendent Maria T. Vullo on Monday announced that the New York State Department of Financial Services has authorized Gemini Trust Company, LLC...
HSBC, ING Complete First Live Finance Transaction on Blockchain Platform
HSBC and ING on Monday announced they have carried out the first live trade-finance transaction on R3’s scalable blockchain platform called Corda. This transaction...
J.P.Morgan, National Bank of Canada Trial Debt Issuance on Blockchain in U.S. Markets
J.P. Morgan in collaboration with National Bank of Canada said Friday they have tested a new blockchain platform for issuing financial instruments. They issued...
New York AG Launches Inquiry Into Cryptocurrency Platforms
New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman on Tuesday launched the Virtual Markets Integrity Initiative, a fact-finding inquiry into the policies and practices of...
Cryptocurrency Influencer Hacked Out of $2 Million During Livestream
Ian Balina, a Cryptocurrency influencer and Youtube influencer who does sponsored ICO reviews was forced to abruptly end a livestreamed ICO review on Sunday...
Researchers Propose Creation of Open-Source Blockchain Network for Manufacturers
Researchers at North Carolina State University are proposing the creation of a public, open-source network that uses blockchains – the technology behind cryptocurrencies –...
Google Bans Extensions With Hidden Cryptocurrency Mining Scripts
Google is Banning Chrome browser extensions that mine cryptocurrency using the processing power of users’ computers.
“Over the past few months, there has been a...
Credit Suisse, ING Complete 25 Million Euros Live Securities Transaction Using Blockchain
Credit Suisse and ING have completed what they called the “first” live securities lending transaction settled using the blockchain platform. The 25 million euros...
NIST Publishes High-Level Overview of Blockchain Technology
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently released Draft NISTIR 8202, Blockchain Technology Overview, a straightforward introduction to blockchain, which underpins Bitcoin...
Singapore Airlines to Launch Blockchain-Based Airline Loyalty Digital Wallet
Singapore Airlines is set to launch what it termed a “world-first blockchain-based airline loyalty digital wallet capability” to allow its KrisFlyer membership base to...
IBM, Maersk Collaborate on Blockchain-Based Global Trade Platform
A.P. Moller - Maersk and IBM on Tuesday announced their intent to establish a joint venture to provide what they termed as “more efficient...
Australia’s ASX Turns to Blockchain for Equity Transaction Settlement
Australia’s ASX Ltd said Thursday it would replace CHESS using distributed ledger technology (DLT). CHESS (Clearing House Electronic Subregister System) is the system used...
Blockchain Startup to Launch Metronome, ‘World’s First’ Cross-Blockchain Cryptocurrency
Bloq, a U.S. blockchain technology company, on Monday announced the upcoming launch of Metronome (MTN), which it called “the world’s first cross-blockchain cryptocurrency.”The cryptocurrency...
Bank of Canada, TMX to Trial Blockchain Tech for Securities Settlement
Payments Canada, the Bank of Canada and TMX Group on Tuesday announced a new collaboration to experiment with an integrated securities and payment settlement...
J.P. Morgan Launches Blockchain-Based Payments Network
J.P. Morgan said Monday it has launched a new payments processing network based on blockchain technology. The financial services firm is partnering with Royal...
SEB and Nasdaq Partner to Trial Blockchain for Mutual Funds
Nasdaq and Nordic financial services group, SEB said Wednesday they are collaborating on a project to test a developed prototype for a mutual fund...
R3 Collaborates With UK Regulator and Banks on Blockchain-Based Mortgage Reporting
Enterprise software firm R3 said Tuesday it has collaborated with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), RBS and another major global bank to build a...
Maersk and Partners to Deploy ‘World’s First’ Blockchain Platform for Marine Insurance Sector
Consultancy EY said on Wednesday it is set to deploy the “world’s first blockchain platform for the marine sector,” in collaboration with data security...
IBM, Sony Partner on Blockchain-Based Education Data Management System
IBM said Wednesday that Sony Corporation and Sony Global Education, a subsidiary of Sony that works to provide global educational services, have developed a...
Microsoft Announces CoCo Framework to Advance Enterprise Adoption of Blockchain Tech
Microsoft Corp. on Thursday announced the Coco Framework, "a first-of-its-kind innovation" that will advance enterprise adoption of blockchain technology.
Current blockchain protocol technology requires complicated...
Bitfury Partners With Medical AI Company on Blockchain Solutions for Healthcare
Blockchain technology company The Bitfury Group said Friday it is collaborating with Insilico Medicine, Inc., a Baltimore-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) and bioinformatics company, to...
Hyperledger Releases Hyperledger Fabric 1.0, Open Source Blockchain Framework
Hyperledger, a collaborative cross-industry effort created to advance blockchain technology, announced on Tuesday the general availability of Hyperledger Fabric 1.0. Hosted by The Linux...
London-Based Startup Blockchain Receives $40M in VC Funding – Largest Series B in Fintech Yet
London-based startup Blockchain, a leading software platform for digital assets, announced last week that they have raised a Series B of $40 million with...
GSA Accepting Contractor Support to Develop PoC for Distributed Ledger Technology
The General Services Administration (GSA) is currently seeking contractor support to develop a proof of concept for Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). This is according...
Bitfury, Risk Cooperative Partner on Blockchain Initiatives in Insurance Intermediation Market
Blockchain technology company, The Bitfury Group, and Risk Cooperative, an insurance advisory firm, announced on Friday that they have entered into what they termed...
Group Develops Blockchain-Based Prototype to Power Energy Business
TMX Group announced Wednesday the development of a blockchain-based prototype to power a new service offering from Natural Gas Exchange (NGX), a wholly-owned subsidiary...
Nasdaq, Citi Partner on Blockchain Payment System
Nasdaq and Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions announced Monday a new integrated payment solution that enables straight through payment processing and automates reconciliation by...
R3 Secures $107M, World’s Largest Distributed Ledger Technology Investment to Date
Blockchain consortium R3 said Tuesday it has completed the first two of three tranches in its Series A fundraising round, securing USD 107 million in...
Toyota, Industry Partners Explore Use of Blockchain Tech for Autonomous Vehicles
Toyota Research Institute (TRI), a wholly owned unit of Toyota Motor North America, said Monday it is collaborating with MIT Media lab and several...
Intel, PokitDok Collaborate on Blockchain Solution for Recording Healthcare Transactions
Healthcare API company PokitDok announced last week that it has selected the Linux Foundation’s Hyperledger Sawtooth as its premier platform for recording DokChain healthcare...
Startups Get Funding From DHS for Blockchain Research Projects
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has awarded $9.7 million to 12 small businesses for 13 Phase II contracts through...
Australia to Officially Treat Bitcoin as Legal Tender July 1
Australia is making strides towards establishing itself as a leading global financial technology (FinTech) hub and, recently announced a new package aimed at positioning...
U.N. Launches Training Aimed at Tackling Cryptocurrency-Enabled Organized Crime
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said Monday it has developed what it termed a “world-leading Cryptocurrency Investigation Train-the-Trainers course,” and...
TenneT, IBM, Others Collaborate to Develop Blockchain Tech for Managing Power Grid
IBM said Tuesday it is joining forces with TenneT, sonnen and Vandebron to develop blockchain technology for managing the electricity grid in the Netherlands...
Ukraine Partners With Tech Firm Bitfury to Put Government Data on Blockchain Platform
The Bitfury Group, a full service Blockchain technology company, said last week The State Agency for eGovernance of Ukraine signed what it described as...
UK’s Royal Mint, CME Group Trial Blockchain-Based Platform for Trading Gold
Britain's Royal Mint and Chicago-based exchange CME Group Inc are testing a new platform for trading gold based on blockchain technology. RMG (Royal Mint...
Fidelity Collaborates With Academic and Tech Firms to Develop Blockchain Technology
Fidelity Labs, the R&D and Innovation unit of Fidelity Investments, said Monday it is the first in the financial services industry to join faculty...
IBM, Trafigura, Natixis Pioneer First Blockchain Solution for U.S. Crude Oil Transactions
IBM, Natixis and Trafigura have pioneered the first blockchain solution in commodity trade finance for US crude oil transactions, IBM announced Tuesday.
The distributed ledger...
SAP Joins Hyperledger to Advance Enterprise-Grade Distributed Ledger Tech
Business software and cloud services company SAP has joined Hyperledger, a collaborative cross-industry effort created to advance blockchain technology.
The company plans to utilize blockchain...
KPMG, Microsoft Launch Joint Blockchain Nodes
KPMG International and Microsoft Corp. announced Wednesday the launch of joint Blockchain Nodes, which they said are designed to “create and demonstrate use cases...
Major Energy Companies Begin Work on Blockchain Pilot
BTL, a blockchain solution provider, said Tuesday it is working with a group of leading energy companies, including Wien Energie GmbH, Austria's largest regional energy...
Lawmakers Announce Launch of Congressional Blockchain Caucus
Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) and David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) on Thursday announced the launch of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus, a bipartisan Caucus which they say...
In New Report, FINRA Sees Potential Implications of Blockchain
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) on Wednesday issued a report that discusses the use and implications of DLT in the securities industry. The...
SWIFT Explores Use of Blockchain Tech to Improve Database Reconciliation
Global interbank messaging organization SWIFT said Thursday it is launching of a Proof of Concept (PoC) to explore whether distributed ledger technology (DLT) can...
IBM Watson Partners With FDA to Study Use of Blockchain Tech for Secure Exchange of Healthcare Data
IBM Watson Health said Wednesday it has signed a research initiative with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) aimed at defining a secure,...
DTCC Collaborates With IBM, AXIONI and R3 on Distributed Ledger Project
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the premier post-trade market infrastructure for the global financial services industry, said Monday that it has selected...
BNP Paribas Processes Its First Real-Time Blockchain Payments
France's BNP Paribas said Wednesday it has processed several live payments for two of its longstanding corporate clients, Amcor, a provider of packaging solutions and...
Fed Publishes Paper on Distributed Ledger Technology
The U.S. Federal Reserve has published a paper on distributed ledger technology titled, Distributed Ledger Technology in Payments, Clearing, and Settlement.
The paper analyzes the...
IBM Debuts Blockchian Ecosystem to Spur Network Growth on Hyperledger Fabric
IBM has affirmed it's faith in the ability of Blockchain to transform the way industries conduct business transactions. This will require a complete ecosystem...
Sweden Contemplates Issuing e-kroner, National Cryptocurrency, in Two Years
The Central Bank of Sweden is contemplating the implementation of a national digital currency as a complementary service to counter a decline in the...
Deloitte, Others Test use of Blockchain for Consumer Payments
SETL, a London-based fintech, Deloitte and Metro Bank said Tuesday they have tested a blockchain-based payment system. SETL provided a contactless smartcard enabled blockchain...
Singapore Collaborates With International Banks to Set Up Interbank Blockchain Network
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said Wednesday that it is partnering with R3, a Blockchain technology company, and a consortium of financial institutions...
Chain, Visa’s Blockchain Collaborator, Open Sources Developer Platform
Chain, a provider of blockchain technology solutions, on Monday released Chain Core Developer Edition, a free and open source version of its distributed ledger...
Wells Fargo, Commonwealth Tout ‘First-Ever’ International Blockchain Trade
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (Commonwealth Bank), Wells Fargo and Brighann Cotton said Monday they have undertaken what they called “the first global trade transaction...
Fintech: R3, Ripple Cooperate With 12 Banks to Test Blockchain-Inspired XRP for Cross-Border Payments
Financial innovation company R3 and twelve of its consortium member banks have trialed Ripple’s distributed financial technology and the potential for its digital asset...
Eight Firms Complete Blockchain Implementation for Equity Swaps
Eight firms announced on Tuesday the successful test of blockchain technology and smart contracts to manage affirmations and post-trade lifecycle processing for OTC equity...
Terbium Labs, Skry Partner on Security for Blockchain Tech
Dark web data intelligence provider Terbium Labs and Skry, a leading blockchain analytics and intelligence company, said Wednesday they have partnered to help financial...
IBM Invests $200 Million in IoT, Blockchain
IBM on Monday unveiled a $200 million USD investment in the new global headquarters for its Watson Internet of Things (IoT) business in Munich.
The...
Fatcom Raises $4.2 Million Series A Funding to Further Blockchain Projects
Texas-based Factom, Inc., a blockchain technology company that secures data via decentralization, said Wednesday that it has raised $4.2m in a Series A round of...
IBM Studies Show Blockchain Adoption in Banking and Finance Sectors Surpass Expectations
Two new IBM studies conducted by the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) show that commercial blockchain solutions are rapidly being adopted throughout banking...
Chamber of Digital Commerce, 1776 Open Blockchain Innovation Center in Washington, D.C.
The Chamber of Digital Commerce and technology incubator 1776 have partnered to launch the DC Blockchain Center to serve as Washington, DC’s entrepreneurial resource...
Microsoft, Bank of America Partner to Incorporate Azure Blockchain as a Service in Trade Finance
Microsoft Corp. and Bank of America Merrill Lynch are collaborating on blockchain technology to fuel transformation of trade finance transacting.
The two multinationals made the...
Lawmakers Form Bipartisan Congressional Blockchain Caucus
A bipartisan group of lawmakers on Monday announced the creation of a Congressional Blockchain Caucus dedicated to the advancement of sound public policy toward...
IBM Also Joins the Blockchain Frenzy: Partners With China UnionPay
Not willing to be left out of the growing frenzy surrounding blockchain technology, IBM announced Friday that it is partnering with Chinese credit card...
Major Banks Explore Use of Blockchain Tech for Data Management
Seven buy-side and sell side firms, including AB (Alliance Bernstein), Citi, Credit Suisse and HSBC, announced Monday that they have collaborated with financial innovation...
U.S. Judge Rules Bitcoin is Money
A federal judge issued a ruling on Monday, in the case of affirming that Bitcoin qualifies as money. This decision is linked to a...
BNP Paribas Expands Blockchain Platform to Issue Minibonds Via Crowdfunding
French multinational bank and financial services company, BNP Paribas Securities Services, said Monday it is expanding its blockchain platform for private stocks to help...