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 settlement of tokenized assets across different blockchain platforms. DvP system utilizes smart contracts to simplify post-trade...

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 to the collection, storage, and use of personal data, has published a first-of-its-kind guidance to...
blockchain

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 commodities, which they hope will serve as an industry standard. “The potential that distributed ledger technologies...
ibm

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) for LedgerConnect − a distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform for the financial services industry. According to...

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 what it called a “next-generation self-regulating and decentralized financial platform.” According to Huobi Group, the project...

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 advisory that gives exchanges and clearinghouses registered with the CFTC guidance for listing virtual currency...

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 regulators in the United States and Canada to crack down on fraudulent Initial Coin Offerings...

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 founded by internet entrepreneurs Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, to offer the custody services and trading...
blockchain

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 was for agrifood trading giant Cargill. The blockchain transaction involved a bulk shipment of soybeans from...
blockchain

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 a USD 150M, one-year floating-rate Yankee certificate of deposit, with a parallel simulation of the...
bitcoin

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 platforms used by consumers to trade virtual or “crypto” currencies like bitcoin and ether. The Attorney...

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 night when he realized that he was being hacked. Balina sensed something was wrong when...
blockchain

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 – to share verifiable manufacturing data. The system could be used as a peer-to-peer network that allows...

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 rise in malicious extensions that appear to provide useful functionality on the surface, while embedding...

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 ($30.48 million) was settled using HQLAx securities lending app on R3's Corda blockchain platform. During the...
blockchain

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 and other digital currencies. The publication is intended to provide a high-level technical overview of blockchain...

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 use "digital KrisFlyer miles" for point-of-sale transactions at participating retail merchants. This digital wallet app for...
maersk

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 and secure” methods for conducting global trade using blockchain technology. The aim of the new company...
blockchain

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 by ASX to record shareholdings and manage the clearing and settlement of equity transactions in...

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 is expected to launch in early December 2017. According to Bloq, Metronome’s cross-blockchain capability uses a...
blockchain

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 platform based on distributed ledger technology (DLT) as part of the third phase of the...
blockchain

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 Bank of Canada and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited on the Interbank Information...

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 trading platform based on blockchain technology. The aim is to increase efficiency in the processing of...
blockchain

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 prototype application for regulatory reporting of mortgage transactions on R3’s Corda distributed ledger technology (DLT)...

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 firm Guardtime, Microsoft and ship operator Maersk . The blockchain platform is built on Microsoft Azure...

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 new blockchain-based student education records platform. With the solution, school administrators can consolidate and manage students'...
microsoft

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 development techniques to meet the operational and security needs of enterprises. The Coco Framework reduces...

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 develop "novel" solutions for healthcare applications using Blockchain technology. Both companies signed a memorandum of understanding...
blockchain

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 Foundation, Hyperledger Fabric is a blockchain framework implementation and intended as a foundation for developing...
blockchain

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 Lakestar and GV (formerly Google Ventures) with additional participation from Nokota Management and Digital Currency...
blockchain

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 to a Request for Quotation (RFQ) issued by the agency. Additionally, the GSA is also seeking...

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 “a strategic partnership” to pioneer Blockchain applications in the $60 billion insurance intermediation market. The Bitfury...

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 of TMX Group. NGX collaborated with Nuco Inc., a digital infrastructure provider, to build a new...
blockchain

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 using a distributed ledger to record and transmit payment instructions. A number of payment transactions have...
blockchain

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 the world’s largest distributed ledger technology (DLT) investment to date. R3 is the largest consortium of...
toyota

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 industry partners to explore blockchain and distributed ledger technology (BC/DL) for use in the development...
blockchain

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 transactions. Hyperledger Sawtooth is an open source blockchain project contributed by Intel. DokChain is PokitDok’s implementation...
dhs

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 the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Three of the companies received approximately $2.25 million for...
bitcoin

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 its local FinTech industry as a world leader. To that effect, the Australian government will...
bitcoin

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 delivered, in recent weeks, the first courses on cryptocurrency investigation. This is in response to the...
smart grid

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 and Germany. This innovative technology is the next step in enabling decentralized flexible energy sources to...
blockchain

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 “a groundbreaking first-ever Memorandum of interaction and cooperation to create the first full-scale Blockchain eGovernance...
blockchain

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 Gold), is a digital gold product created by The Royal Mint and CME Group. CME Group...
blockchain

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 members at Cornell University, Cornell Tech, UC Berkeley, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, and the...
ibm

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 platform, built on the Linux Foundation open source Hyperledger Fabric, allows major steps in a...
blockchain

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 in existing and new business scenarios for enterprises, and will implement blockchain across its portfolio,...

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 that apply blockchain technology to business propositions and processes.”  The KPMG and Microsoft Blockchain Nodes will...
grid

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 company, on a blockchain pilot using BTL's Interbit platform. According to BTL, the goal of the...
blockchain

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 will be dedicated to the advancement of sound public policy toward blockchain-based technologies and digital...
blockchain

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 paper also seeks comments as part of an effort to obtain feedback on any challenges...
blockchain

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 be used by banks to improve the reconciliation of their nostro databases in real time,...
blockchain

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, efficient and scalable exchange of health data using blockchain technology. IBM and the FDA will explore...
fintech

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 IBM, in partnership with Axoni and R3, to provide a distributed ledger technology (DLT) framework...
blockchain

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 Panini Group, an international dealer in collectibles and trading cards. BNP Paribas successfully utilized blockchain technology to process...
reserve

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 growing popularity of digital finance, also referred to as fintech, with an emphasis on distributed...

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 of industry players working together, allowing businesses to benefit from the network effect of blockchain,...
coin

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 use of physical cash in the country. Cecilia Skingsley, the Deputy Governor of Riksbank, Sweden's central...
blockchain

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 allowing digitised payments, Deloitte exercised its blockchain ID system known as Smart Identity and Metro...
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 on a proof-of-concept project to conduct inter-bank payments using Blockchain technology. The project could potentially avail...
blockchain

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 platform that enables organizations to issue and transfer assets on permissioned blockchain networks. Visa recently said...
blockchain

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 between two independent banks combining the emerging disruptive technologies of blockchain, smart contracts and Internet...
blockchain

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 to scale liquidity and reduce the costs and inefficiencies of interbank cross-border payments, the company...
blockchain

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 swaps. The initiative demonstrated the potential efficiency gains and cost savings attainable by processing complex post-trade...
bitcoin

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 institutions, law enforcement and Bitcoin companies quickly detect fraud and investigate criminal activity on distributed...
watson

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 company is exploring new IoT capabilities around Blockchain and security and an array of clients...
blockchain

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 funding led by Tim Draper of Draper Associates. The Series A round of financing enables Factom...
blockchain

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 and financial markets, dramatically faster than initially expected. The studies are: "Leading the Pack in Blockchain...
blockchain

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 for technology providers and governments investing and innovating in blockchain-based technologies, the Chamber of Digital...

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 announcement Tuesday at Sibos, an annual conference organized by SWIFT for the financial industry. As part...
bitcoin

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 cryptocurrencies and other blockchain-based technologies. “Blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionize the financial services industry,...
ibm

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 company, China UnionPay to enable the sharing of loyalty bonus points among banks with the...
citi

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 companies R3 and Axoni to explore how blockchain technology could simplify reference data processes. Reference data...
bitcoin

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 criminal case over hacking attacks against JPMorgan Chase & Co and other companies, reports Reuters....
bnp

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 private companies issue minibonds via crowdfunding platforms. The bank is working in partnership with renewable energy...