Latest Blockchain News: Finextra Research

CFTC Commissioner hails potential of distributed ledger tech for regulators

Policymakers and regulators should adopt a 'do no harm' approach to the use of blockchain technology in financial services, according to Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Commissioner J Christopher Giancarlo, who also argues that the distributed ledger could be a boon for watchdogs by improving transparency.

12 April 2016

Company update/Blockchain

MIT adopts Ripple validator to advance consensus and blockchain research

Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Connection Science, a research initiative that applies data and analytics to build better societies, today announced that it is the first academic institution in North America to participate in a global Byzantine consensus database.

12 April 2016

Company update/Blockchain

Coinanalytics rebrands as Skry

Blockchain Intelligence firm Skry - formerly known as Coinalytics - today unveiled a new name and logo, along with the addition of industry experts to its team. Dr. Akash Singh, former CTO Data Science at Huawei & Chief Researcher/Architect at IBM, will join Skry as Chief Technology Officer.

12 April 2016

Company update/Blockchain

Uphold integrates with Bittrex

Uphold, the world's fastest growing cloud-based financial services platform, has announced its real-time integration with leading cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex, allowing real-time market pricing for its members to exchange Voxel, Litecoin and Ethereum into a wide range of fiat currencies, including the US dollar, Euro, Chinese yuan, Indian rupee, Japanese yen and British pound, as well as precious metals, including gold and silver.

12 April 2016

News/Blockchain

Chain and MUFG conduct blockchain trials

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) is collaborating with blockchain infrastructure outfit Chain on a proof-of-concept test for the application of distributed ledger technology in the issuance and transfer of Promissory Notes.

12 April 2016

Company update/Blockchain

Ripple hires HSBC payments exec Marcus Treacher

Ripple, the global provider of financial settlement solutions, today announced the hire of Marcus Treacher as Global Head of Strategic Accounts.

11 April 2016

Finextra TV/Blockchain

Separate the substance from the blockchain hype

Nick Williamson, CEO and Co-Founder, and Eric Benz, COO and Co-Founder, Credits, discusses the hype around blockchain and how retail bankers should be preparing for the technology.

08 April 2016

News/Blockchain

Japan Exchange and NRI begin blockchain proof-of-concept

IT outfit Nomura Research Institute (NRI) is working with Japan Exchange Group and several major financial institutions to test the use of blockchain technology in the securities industry.

08 April 2016

News/Blockchain

Major banks perform successful test of smart contracts in CDS market

Four major banks, the DTCC and Markit have announced the completion of a successful test of the use of distributed ledger technology and smart contracts to manage post-trade processes in the credit default swaps market.

07 April 2016

Company update/Blockchain

Japan Exchange group and NRI commence blockchain PoC

Japan Exchange Group, Inc. (JPX) and Nomura Research Insitute have agreed to jointly begin conducting proof of concept (PoC) tests for blockchain, or distributed ledger, technology.

07 April 2016

Company update/Blockchain

P2P bitcoin marketplace OpenBazaar opens for business

OpenBazaar – the decentralized marketplace that uses Bitcoin – is now open for business.

06 April 2016

Company update/Blockchain

Money2020: Credits launches blockchain-platform-as-a-service

Credits, the blockchain platform provider, today launched the public beta test version of their new Blockchain Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) at Money 20/20.

06 April 2016

Company update/Blockchain

Seven university student teams to pitch for Swift Institute Challenge prize

SWIFT Institute announces today that it has selected seven university student teams to compete in the inaugural SWIFT Institute Challenge at the SWIFT Business Forum London on 20 April at Tobacco Docks.

06 April 2016

News/Blockchain

Barclays backs UK launch of social payments app Circle

Social payments outfit Circle - which enables sterling, dollar and bitcoin money transfers across popular messaging platforms and other media - has launched in the UK with the support of Barclays Bank and an e-money issuer license from the Financial Conduct Authority.

06 April 2016

News/Blockchain

R3 outlines Corda distributed ledger for financial agreements

After six months of development, the R3 consortium has unveiled its Corda distributed ledger platform for recording and managing financial agreements.

05 April 2016

Company update/Blockchain

Red Hat unveils blockchain for finance initiative

Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT), the world's leading provider of open source solutions, today announced a new initiative to meet the needs of fintech startups and financial services independent software vendors (ISVs) who are developing blockchain applications and technologies.

05 April 2016

Company update/Blockchain

State of Delaware unveils blockchain initiative

Governor Jack Markell announced today the establishment of the Delaware Blockchain Initiative, a suite of programs that aims to encourage expanded use and development of distributed ledger and smart contract technologies by Delaware-incorporated businesses.

05 April 2016

News/Blockchain

Bank of Ireland and BNP Paribas announce blockchain breakthroughs

New use cases for the adoption of blockchains in finance are appearing every day, with Bank of Ireland and BNP Paribas the latest to demonstrate the disruptive potential of the technology

05 April 2016

News/Blockchain

R3 enlists Microsoft Azure for distributed ledger push

Distributed ledger consortium R3 has struck a deal with Microsoft that will see the tech giant provide cloud-based tools, services and infrastructure for R3 lab locations around the world.

04 April 2016

Company update/Blockchain

Overstock.com invests $4 million in Caribbean digital currency startup Bitt

Overstock.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:OSTK) announced a strategic investment in Bitt.com, a Caribbean-based financial technology firm working to move island nations in that region to adopt digital national currencies. Overstock.com is investing $4 million in Bitt initially.

04 April 2016