Latest Blockchain News: Finextra Research

Bitcoin Group raises A$5.9m in ASX IPO

The Bitcoin Group IPO Offer and ASX Bookbuild has closed on 25th January 2016. Bitcoin Group is pleased to announce the amount raised is $5,927,168.40.

02 February 2016

News/Blockchain

BNP Paribas completes blockchain for transaction banking hackathon

BNP Paribas has confirmed its commitment to the distributed ledger movement in finance after completing its first 'Blockchain Bizhackathon' in the transaction banking arena.

02 February 2016

Finextra TV/Blockchain

Horizontal change in the payments industry

Paul Thomalla, SVP Global Corporate Relations & Development, ACI Worldwide, speaks about whether business or technology drivers are changing the payments landscape, and the role of regulation in disrupting the industry.

01 February 2016

News/Blockchain

JPMorgan begins blockchain trial - FT

JPMorgan has begun a trial project to test the use of blockchain technology in its loan trading operations, according to a report in the Financial Times.

01 February 2016

Finextra TV/Blockchain

The final move to becoming a cashless society

Gunnar Berger, Head of Cash Management Solutions, Nordea, outlines the potential of real-time payments to give Sweden the final push to become cashless, and discusses whether banks are ready to work alongside new entrants.

01 February 2016

Company update/Blockchain

Symbiont taps Gemalto to offer security for blockchain-based services

Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), the world leader in digital security, and Symbiont, a pioneer in the use of blockchain and distributed ledger technology in capital markets, today announced they are working together to enable financial services organizations to securely execute smart contracts and other blockchain-based transactions.

29 January 2016

News/Blockchain

Bank of America loads up on blockchain patents

Bank of America is in the process of filing 20 new blockchain-related patents, adding to the 15 it has already submitted to the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

29 January 2016

Finextra TV/Blockchain

‘From disruption to real world change’

Erica Åhman, Head of Nordics, SWIFT, speaks about the value of this year’s SWIFT Nordics Regional Conference in Oslo for the Norwegian and Nordic communities, and what important global payments topics will be discussed, alongside securities and an Innotribe session.

29 January 2016

News/Blockchain

Ripple to create Asian joint venture with SBI Holdings

Ripple is to create a joint venture company with Japanese financial conglomerate SBI Holdings to drive the adoption of its distributed ledger technology for cross-border payments across Asian markets.

29 January 2016

News/Blockchain

EC focuses on monitoring, not regulating, virtual currencies

The European Commission is examining whether virtual currencies need to be regulated in the wake of last November's terrorist attacks in Paris, but is currently more focused on monitoring the likes of bitcoin than on rushing out new rules.

29 January 2016

News/Blockchain

Cambridge Blockchain wins Santander DL Challenge

Massachusetts-based Cambridge Blockchain has walked away with a £15,000 cash prize and the promise of future angel investment after winning a distributed ledger challenge organised by Santander InnoVentures in partnership with OneVest, CoFoundersLab and 1000 angels.

28 January 2016

News/Blockchain

Bank of England to develop blueprint for overhaul of UK payments system

The Bank of England is developing a blueprint to modernise the UK's 20-year old real-time gross settlement system to deal with changing payment habits and the emergence of distributed ledger technology.

27 January 2016

Company update/Blockchain

Bitcoin Vietnam and Coinify launch country's first blockchain payment processing platform

Bitcoin Vietnam Co. Ltd. Vietnam's first bitcoin exchange and Coinify ApS the market leader in blockchain currency merchant processing officially announce a new strategic partnership that will bring advanced blockchain merchant processing tools to the Vietnamese market.

25 January 2016

News/Blockchain

DTCC calls for industry coordination on distributed ledger tech

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) has pitched itself as the coordinator of an industry-wide investigation into whether distributed ledger technology is the answer to "certain limitations" in the post-trade process.

25 January 2016

Company update/Blockchain

Abacas Exchange runs first transaction using blockchain technology

The Abacas Exchange has successfully issued its first asset-backed coin on the Bitcoin blockchain.

22 January 2016

News/Blockchain

Regulatory overhaul needed to make the Netherlands a fintech hub - report

The Netherlands has the potential to become a fintech hub, but only if the country's regulatory framework is overhauled and banks, startups and government improve cooperation, according to a new report.

22 January 2016

News/Blockchain

Financial industry giants join $50m Digital Asset Holdings funding round

Digital Asset Holdings, the blockchain startup helmed by former JP Morgan luminary Blythe Masters, has raised more than $50 million in a funding round joined by some of the biggest names in financial services, including Citi, Deutsche Börse and Santander InnoVentures. One of the investors, the ASX, has also handed Digital Asset a contract to design a post-trade settlement system using distributed ledger technology.

21 January 2016

News/Blockchain

PwC establishes blockchain team

Professional services giant PwC has set up a blockchain team at its Belfast office as it seeks to exploit and commercialise the technology behind cryptocurrency Bitcoin.

21 January 2016

News/Blockchain

International co-operation essential to manage virtual currency risks - IMF

Virtual currencies and their underlying technologies are seen as a important advance for the financial services sector, but achieving a balanced regulatory framework that guards against risks without suffocating innovation is a challenge that will require extensive international co-operation, says the International Monetary Forum (IMF) in a report presented during the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos.

21 January 2016

News/Blockchain

Dutch cops arrest 10 over bitcoin money laundering scheme

Dutch authorities have arrested 10 men accused of using bitcoin to launder up to EUR20 million made from selling drugs online.

20 January 2016