Blockchain


Morgan Stanley cools blockchain buzz

Morgan Stanley has brought blockchain back to earth, calling it a “double-edged sword” because while it helps banks reduce clutter, profits could fall or shift to new players. In its 31-page report, “Global Insight: Blockchain in Banking: Disruptive Threat or Tool?”, the company predicts blockchain’s “widespread potential to disrupt financial intermediaries” but says there are […]

Swift Business Forum London 2016: Blockchain – a reconciliation revolution

Blockchain is a revolution in reconciliation but not in payments, is one of the messages coming out of the Swift Business Forum London 2016. For the sixth edition of the show, more than 1,300 delegates were rammed and jammed into Tobacco Dock, London. This morning’s (20 April) sessions were dominated by warm-up speeches that praised […]

Two blockchain start-ups become one as Digital Asset Holdings and Elevence merge

Distributed ledger specialist Digital Asset Holdings has acquired a small Swiss start-up, Elevence Digital Finance. Elevence’s niche is a modelling language for determining rights and obligations in blockchain collaboration agreements. Its takeover provides Digital Asset with a new, verifiable way for parties involved in a transaction to independently prove updates to a distributed ledger while […]

Chain links up with MUFG for blockchain

Chain, a provider of blockchain technology infrastructure, has teamed with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) to build blockchain solutions for Japan’s financial sector. Satoshi Murabayashi, CIO, in charge of digital innovation, at MUFG, says it wants to “explore the application of next-generation financial infrastructure that we believe could significantly enhance the experience for our clients”. […]

Money 20/20 Europe: Blockchain rules rule

The blockchain (and bitcoin) industry welcomes regulations, but has to share the limelight with other digital currencies, as regulators look to deal with its rise and implications. At yesterday’s (4 April) afternoon session, “Blockchain and digital currency: Regulatory perspectives” at Money 20/20 in Copenhagen, a panel discussed the burning issues of the day. Present were […]

Banking Technology April 2016 issue out now

The latest edition of our flagship magazine – Banking Technology – is out now, packed with news, analysis and insights, case studies, research and expert commentary.

Blockchain: why smart contracts need shrewder people

“I’ve forgotten – woe is me! What the magic word may be.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (1797) How smart is your code? So-called “smart contracts” are science fiction realised. Executable pieces of code stored on a mutual distributed ledger for future execution bind people and payments to actions and outcomes. Computer scientist […]

DTCC and Digital Asset to develop blockchain solution for repo clearing

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) and Digital Asset Holdings have teamed up to develop and test a distributed ledger (blockchain) solution for repurchase agreement (repo) clearing. Blockchain will be used to manage the clearing and settlement of US treasury, agency, and agency mortgage-backed repo transactions. Mike Bodson, president and CEO of DTCC, says: […]

Dutch central bank mulls new blockchain currency

De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), the Dutch central bank, is looking to develop an internal blockchain prototype called “DNBCoin”. In its recently published annual report for 2015, DNB says this year it will aim to use blockchain to improve its business and mentions DNBCoin as an experiment with its own digital currency. The bank doesn’t go […]

Infographics: the most exciting thing about bitcoin isn’t bitcoin

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, but the blockchain protocol behind it can be used for a variety of non-currency purposes. People are using the blockchain to develop everything from ride-sharing services to voting applications to cloud storage. This nifty infographics sums up how the blockchain protocol works and how it’s being used. Source: Who is hosting this?

USAA teams with Coinbase for Bitcoin

The United Services Automobile Association (USAA), a financial services group, has partnered with Coinbase to give Bitcoin usage a timely boost. Late last year, USAA launched a Coinbase pilot program, which allowed select USAA employees and members to view their Coinbase accounts on the USAA website and mobile app. Following the successful pilot, all account […]

ICAP caps blockchain proof of tech test for post trade ops

ICAP, a UK-based financial services firm, says its post trade risk and information (PTRI) division has completed a proof of technology test case for blockchain. Jenny Knott, CEO of ICAP’s PTRI division, says it has demonstrated one of the “first real world applications of distributed ledger technology that has the ability to significantly transform the […]

Top fintech stories this week – 11 March 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! MasterCard mulls VocaLink acquisition There are some things money can buy. US to move to shorter T+2 settlement cycle by September 2017 Make a note, industry target has been unveiled. Big US banks to fight for instant payments […]

Mizuho Bank and Fujitsu boost blockchain security

Mizuho Bank, Fujitsu and Fujitsu Laboratories have jointly conducted a three-month operational trial using blockchain, which makes it “practically impossible” to tamper with transaction histories. The trio says this shortens the processing time for cross-border securities transactions, from the current three days to same-day settlement. For the trial, they built a system that “almost instantly” […]

R3 ends “first of its kind” blockchain trial with 40 banks

New York-based R3 CEV has finished its trial of five distinct blockchain technologies in parallel in the “first test of its kind”. The trial represented the trading of fixed income assets between 40 of the world’s “largest” banks across the blockchains, using cloud technology providers within R3’s Global Collaborative Lab. The banks, including Barclays, Deutsche […]

Payments in 2016: a pivotal year

With challenges across the board, banks will have their work cut out to keep up with the changing world of payments in 2016. It is shaping up to be a pivotal year for the payments industry as regulation, new technology, major infrastructure overhaul projects and security issues combine to reshape the landscape. According to a […]

Korean stock exchange plans blockchain-powered platform

Korea Exchange (KRX), the securities exchange operator in South Korea, plans to launch a platform powered by blockchain to liven up the off-board trading market. According to The Korean Times, KRX has started “preliminary steps” to introduce the new platform connecting sellers and buyers to trade securities directly. “Though many steps remain before the system’s […]

The force awakens: data science in banking

A quiet revolution powered by the force of data science has begun to deliver significant improvements in many areas including national security, business intelligence, law enforcement, financial analysis, healthcare and disaster preparedness. But are we ready to use the force in banking? Standard Chartered’s global chief innovation officer, Anju Patwardhan, explores the topic. Digital data […]

Mizuho and Cognizant join forces for blockchain-backed record-keeping

Mizuho Financial Group and Cognizant have teamed up to develop a blockchain solution for the “secure” record-keeping of documents among Mizuho Financial Group companies around the world. The agreement is the beginning of Mizuho’s programme to use blockchain for building new work processes for transactions and digital interactions. This engagement will initially focus on New […]

Distributed ledger identity: misplaced trust

Distributed ledgers have a role to play in identity verifications, but there are potential pitfalls, state Professor Michael Mainelli and Vinay Gupta. They are increasingly touted as the answer to the identity problems plaguing finance and government. They may well be part of the answer, but more important is recognising they are only tools to help […]

IBM delivers blockchain-as-a-service for developers

Blockchain gets another boost as IBM has made nearly 44,000 lines of code available to the Linux Foundation’s open source Hyperledger Project to help developers build secure distributed ledgers. IBM has also made a range of announcements spanning technology and business consulting to “rapidly advance the use of distributed ledger technology across multiple industries”. These […]

Chainalysis inks deal with Europol and raises $1.6m seed round

Chainalysis, a New York-based cyber security start-up, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) on collaborating to fight online crime. Chainalysis aims to change “negative headlines where digital currencies have been connected to fraud and cybercrime” and is tracking digital identities on the blockchain. The start-up says its software […]

Digital Asset teams with Accenture, Broadridge and PwC for blockchain growth

New York-based Digital Asset Holdings, a developer of distributed ledger technology (aka blockchain), has teamed up with Accenture, Broadridge and PwC. Digital Asset says it has entered into non-exclusive strategic business relationships with the companies, and Blythe Masters, CEO of Digital Asset, says the alliances will “accelerate innovation” and “drive growth”. The Accenture relationship will […]

Nasdaq extends blockchain innovation with Estonian shareholders

Estonia’s e-Residency platform will use a blockchain-based e-voting service to allow shareholders of companies listed on Nasdaq’s Tallinn Stock Exchange, to vote in shareholder meetings. The country’s e-Residency platform is an electronic identity system used by both Estonian residents and those with business interests in the country to access government services through e-Residency digital authentication. The program […]

Euroclear and Oliver Wyman in blockchain unity call

Central securities depositary Euroclear and consultancy Oliver Wyman have issued a report on the use of blockchain, the distributed ledger technology that underpins Bitcoin transactions, in capital markets. The firms arguing that major existing players will have to work with newcomers to create a framework that operates between firms and under regulatory obligations. Blockchain and […]

Ripple joint-venture with SBI brings distributed ledger to Asia

Distributed ledger technology provider Ripple and Japanese financial services firm SBI Holdings have announced the creation of a joint partnership, which will expand Ripple into the Asian market. Ripple, which focuses on the using blockchain-like technology for payments, is based predominantly in San Francisco with presences in New York, London and Sydney. SBI is a US$28 […]

Rudi Collin named head of Digital Transformation at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas Corporate and Institutional Banking (CIB) has announced that it has appointed Rudi Collin as Head of Digital Transformation for CIB. Previously Collin was head of Electronic Business and Markets for the Global Markets business and prior to this, was chief operating officer for the fixed income division of the bank. In his new role, […]

DTCC: Blockchain is “once-in-a-generation opportunity”

In a new whitepaper, the US post-trade infrastructure provider Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC), has voiced its belief that the financial services industry “has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine and modernise its infrastructure” by employing blockchain in a coordinated manner. Blockchain is the transaction model used to transfer ownership of crypto-currency bitcoin. It was developed […]

Blockchain: ushering a new era in fintech

The distributed ledger – the central nervous system of the Bitcoin system – is the most sweeping departure from the long-standing financial bookkeeping practices followed since the codification of the Medici’s double entry accounting system.

In third parties we (mis)trust?

Technology is transforming trust to the point that people find themselves trusting others with whom they’ve had no experience, on eBay or Facebook, more than banks they’ve dealt with their whole lives.

R3 to involve non-banks in distributed ledger plans in 2016

R3, the bank-led consortium developing the use of distributed ledger technology in financial services, has added 12 new banks as it looks at how to extend its activities to work with buy-side and non-bank institutions in the New Year.

Swift to launch global payment innovation project

Swift is planning to launch a global payment innovation initiative, which it says will dramatically improve the customer experience in correspondent banking by increasing the speed, transparency and predictability of cross-border payments. The platform is due to launch early next year.

Blockchain Ready?

2015 has been a year of extensive discussion about what role blockchain can play in making processes in the financial services industry more efficient. It has also been a year where both banks and start-ups have been testing whether distributed ledger technology can adequately replace costly legacy systems and improve securities processing, writes Brian Collings. […]

The rise of the blockchains: alternative models emerge

If the global payments industry were to be designed from scratch, nobody would design the system which we have today. Yet distributed ledger technology has the potential to bring about dramatic change– if it can overcome the unanswered questions over to what extent the industry should collaborate or compete and whether there will be one model or many different ones, according to speakers and delegates at the European Payments Regulation conference in London on Wednesday.

Kynetix kicks off blockchain commodities consortium

Post-trade technology company Kynetix has launched a blockchain consortium, focused on using distributed ledger technology in commodities markets. The move comes as financial institutions increasingly explore ways to integrate the blockchain concept into mainstream financial services.

Distributed ledger adoption in securities will split front-to-back

Either the distributed ledger is the greatest revolution in financial services for a generation, or it will make little difference to anything, according to the strongly divided opinions expressed by speakers at the Mondo Visione Exchange Forum in London last week.

Data at heart of efforts to rebuild trust — but don’t expect miracles

Trust – or more often, the lack of it – has become a recurring theme in financial services over the last few years. But if financial institutions really wanted to rebuild trust, they might start by looking at some of the safety improvements made by other industries such as the aviation industry, many of which rely on data, according to speakers at the Mondo Visione exchange forum in London.

Santander launches distributed ledger startup challenge

Santander has launched a competition to support startups using distributed ledger technology in financial services. Through its subsidiary InnoVentures, the bank hopes to promote distributed ledger tools that could improve banking processes.