Enterprise Ethereum Alliance launched with Microsoft, Intel, Accenture at forefront

Microsoft, Intel and Accenture are among the companies which have formed the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, a body which aims to further advance blockchain technology. BP, J.P. Morgan, Wipro are also part of the alliance, which aims to connect Fortune 500 enterprises, startups, academics, and technology vendors with Ethereum subject matter experts. All these companies together will learn from and build upon the only smart contract supporting blockchain currently running in real-world...

6 March 2017 | Banking

New report argues blockchain could present unique challenges for financial institutions

Corporate Insight has released a new report titled ‘Blockchain Solutions and the Future of Finance’ in which it has evaluated the near- and long-term potential of the blockchain technology to improve transaction efficiency, firm profitability and customer experience. The study identifies major trends affecting blockchain implementation, profiles organisations that are creating blockchain solutions for financial services, and illustrates potential use cases for the technology including...

2 March 2017 | Banking

Coinfirm raises $700,000 in seed-funding round to help banking compliance in blockchain

Blockchain-based start-up Coinfirm has raised $700,000 in a seed-funding round from Luma Ventures to further expand services and build features on its platform, the company has announced. As the blockchain ecosystem continues to grow exponentially and the regulatory technology market is expected to rise to $100 billion over the next few years, Coinfirm has positioned itself to be an important player in both spaces. Coinfirm’s blockchain anti-money laundering (AML) risk and compliance...

24 February 2017 | Funding

New partnership aims to make remote voting secure and more accessible through blockchain

Voatz and Clear Ballot Group have teamed up to introduce a solution that aims to allow secure and accessible remote voting in elections through blockchain technology.   Having worked together for more than a year, Voatz, a global mobile voting and campaigning platform, brings an open source blockchain platform designed for secure and high volume remote voting on smartphones and tablets, which was independently evaluated for security and has already been piloted successfully in...

17 February 2017 | Blockchain

Blockchain could become mainstream in five years, research argues

Almost half of respondents to a survey from the Post-Trade Distributed Ledger (PTDL) Group believe that blockchain will be adopted in the financial post-trade area in the coming three to five years.   29% believed that blockchain technology will be adopted in the next one to two years and 21% forecast that it will take more than five years.   The PTDL’s global membership survey also found the top three advantages of blockchain technology. 81% members cited that it is...

16 February 2017 | Enterprise

Abu Dhabi bank to introduce real time cross-border payments on blockchain technology

The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) has become the first Middle East bank to introduce real-time cross-border payments based on blockchain technology, it has been announced.   By using this new platform, regional customers will be able to securely process their cross-border payments within NBAD network in real time. The platform combines blockchain company Ripple’s Distributed Financial Technology with NBAD’s existing payments infrastructure to offer a secure end-to-end payment...

16 February 2017 | Banking

B9lab offering first blockchain online course for CTOs

B9lab, an education, advisory and research body based around blockchain and decentralised applications, is giving CTOs worldwide an opportunity to enhance their technical knowledge by offering a comprehensive online course. The CTO course is the newest addition since the successful Ethereum Developer course.   Once enrolled, participants are taught about the theory behind blockchain and introduced to many different protocols for public as well as private blockchain networks. Bitcoin,...

16 February 2017 | Ethereum

Accenture’s new blockchain solution secures financial services, healthcare and government

Accenture has launched a patent-pending solution that allows easy integration of blockchain technology into industrial-grade security systems which support sectors including financial services, healthcare and government. The solution creates a developer-friendly interface between emerging blockchain platforms and widely used hardware security technology.   In order to develop the solution, the company partnered with Thales whose hardware is currently used by most major banks...

16 February 2017 | Banking

Blockstack and Hashed Health raise combined $6 million

Two companies in the blockchain space have recently received funding; healthcare consortium Hashed Health raised $2 million, while Blockstack, a decentralised DNS system built on top of the Bitcoin blockchain, has raised $4 million. Hashed Health’s round was led by investment firm Martin Ventures, while Blockstack’s was led by Union Square Ventures, with participation by Lux Capital, Naval Ravikant, Digital Currency Group, Compound, Version One, Kal Vepuri and Rising Tide. With 50...

16 February 2017 | Bitcoin

American Express joins Hyperledger Project as premier member

American Express (AmEx) has become a part of the blockchain revolution by joining the Hyperledger Project as a premier member. The New York-based financial services company will contribute to the development of the project’s mission to create enterprise-grade, open source, distributed ledger technology. Sastry Durvasula, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Technology Head of Data and Digital capabilities at AmEx, will represent the company on the Hyperledger Governing Board. Durvasula will...

10 February 2017 | Banking