blockchain

Autonomous Next, blockchain, cryptocurrencies, ICO

Here’s the monthly update on the crypto fundraising figures. Let’s start with some good examples — Trustology raising $8 million in equity from Two Sigma and ConsenSys, and ErisX raising…

Insurers, asset managers, banks among firms completing CordaKYC trial

December 4, 2018

blockchain, BNP Paribas, Corda, insurance companies, Natixis, R3, Societe Generale

Enterprise blockchain software firm, R3, announced that over a dozen French corporates have completed a trial of the CordaKYC application built on the Corda blockchain platform and hosted on Microsoft…

NY DFS approves digital payment platform Signet

December 4, 2018

blockchain, NYDFS, Signature Bank, Signet, trading platforms

New York State Department of Financial Services’ superintendent Maria Vullo announced the authorization of Signature Bank to offer a new digital payment platform named Signet. The Signet platform uses blockchain…

Sberbank and Interros transact OTC repo on blockchain

December 4, 2018

blockchain, Interros, Repo, Sberbank

Sberbank and the Interros group company concluded the first OTC repo transaction in electronic format using a smart contract and electronic digital signatures through an IT platform developed by the…

Calastone will migrate funds to blockchain in May 2019

December 4, 2018

blockchain, Calastone, trading platforms

Calastone, the global fund transaction network, announced that its entire global network of more than 1,700 financial organizations, across 40 global markets, will be migrated to blockchain in May 2019…

“World’s largest blockchain” centre moves ahead in Vienna

December 4, 2018

Austria, blockchain, COMET

Austria started developing blockchain expertise at a very early stage. The COMET (Competence Centers for Excellence Technologies) and Austrian Blockchain Center (ABC) aims to bundle comprehensive, interdisciplinary competencies in basic…

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley go live on DLT platform for FX

November 30, 2018

blockchain, CLS, FX, Goldman Sachs, IBM, Morgan Stanley

CLS announced that CLSNet, a standardized, automated bilateral payment netting service for over 120 currencies operating on a distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform, is now live with Goldman Sachs and…

Coinbase among investors in $12.75mn funding round for blockchain compliance platform

November 28, 2018

blockchain, Coinbase, Securitize, tZERO

Securitize, a compliance platform for issuing and managing compliant digitized securities on the blockchain, has raised $12.75 million in funding led by Blockchain Capital, and joined from top-tier blockchain technology…

UAE bank executes world’s first blockchain sukuk transaction

November 28, 2018

Al Hilal Bank, blockchain, DLT, smart contracts, UAE

Al Hilal Bank is the first Islamic bank in the world to use blockchain technology for the resale and settlement of an Islamic sukuk, a type of bond that generates…

BIS chief says crypto and DLT destination should come before the road

November 26, 2018

Bank for International Settlements, blockchain, cryptocurrencies, DLT

Excerpts from speech by Agustín Carstens, general manager, Bank for International Settlements, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore, 15 November 2018 We take a public policy view of…

Russia CSD, Sberbank and MTS transact commercial bond on blockchain

November 25, 2018

News and Notes – Fintech, Uncategorized

blockchain, MTS, NSD, Sberbank, smart contracts

National Settlement Depository (NSD), Russia’s central securities depository, Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, and MTS, Russia’s telecommunications operator, have summed up the results of commercial bond placement using blockchain. The nominal…

WSJ: Overstock pivots to blockchain, will sell retail business

November 25, 2018

blockchain, medici, Overstock, tZERO

Patrick Byrne is so certain about the technology’s possibilities, he’s planning to sell Overstock’s retail business. In August 2015, Overstock’s chief exec Patrick Byrne rented out Nasdaq Times Square broadcast…

What the early days of crypto markets are like to trade (Premium)

November 23, 2018

Battle of the Quants, blockchain, cryptocurrencies, DLT, quants

Fragmented volumes, feeble exchanges, a paucity of data and unreliable, expensive trading are some of the descriptions given by professional traders in the early days of crypto markets. So, why…

What 21 central banks think about developing digital currencies

November 16, 2018

blockchain, CBDC, Central Banks

Discussions on CBDCs (central bank digital currencies) give central banks the opportunity to examine the potential design of their future infrastructure. It is not necessary for central banks to rush…

CryptoGlobe: cynicism over J.P. Morgan blockchain project scaling claims

November 14, 2018

blockchain, Corda, DLT, Interbank Information Network, J.P. Morgan, Ripple Labs

J.P. Morgan’s Interbank Information Network (IIN), a distributed ledger technology (DLT) based payments solution, is reportedly “producing results at scale.” According to the Financial Times, the IIN project is progressing…

HSBC invests in enterprise blockchain fintech Axoni

November 14, 2018

Axoni, blockchain, fundraising, HSBC

Axoni announced that HSBC has joined its Series B financing round, bringing the total amount raised in this round to $36 million and total funding to date to $59 million.…

Insurance payments on blockchain trialed by Australian federal agency and bank

November 14, 2018

blockchain, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, cryptocurrencies, CSIRO

A new type of smart money, powered by blockchain, has been successfully trialled by the innovation arm of Australian federal agency CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) and the…

AI-ML top technologies to impact M&A due diligence, says survey

November 13, 2018

acquisitions, artificial intelligence, blockchain, GDPR, machine learning, mergers, Merrill Corporation

According to a survey of EMEA M&A professionals conducted by Merrill Corporation, artificial intelligence and machine learning (46%) and predictive analytics (37%) as the technologies that will have the most…

Crypto is bypassing the securities industry

November 12, 2018

Josh Galper

Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Market infrastructure, Securities Lending, Technology

blockchain, Crypto, Repo, Securities Lending, topstory

A new crypto infrastructure is emerging that replicates many of the features of the securities industry yet operates under important different principles. While some efforts are being made by crypto…

China insurance giant Ping An plans tech R&D investment at $15bn

November 8, 2018

artificial intelligence, blockchain, China, insurance companies, Ping An

Ping An Insurance said it expects to more than double technology R&D investment over the next decade to consolidate its technology leadership in the financial services industry at the Group’s…

DTCC testing DLT for credit derivatives with MarkitSERV and 15 banks

November 6, 2018

blockchain, derivatives, DTCC, Trade repositories

The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) announced that it has advanced to the testing phase of its project to re-platform its credit derivatives Trade Information Warehouse (TIW) on distributed…

The Asset: first RMBS transactions on China blockchain

November 6, 2018

ABS, blockchain, BOCOM, China, RMBS, Securitization

China’s securitization market recently saw a landmark deal in which blockchain technology was first utilized in capital markets. China’s asset-backed securities market is Asia’s largest. The residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS),…

Nasdaq and Microsoft Azure partner on multi-ledger blockchain strategy

November 2, 2018

blockchain, Microsoft Azure, Nasdaq

Nasdaq is integrating its enterprise architecture, called the Nasdaq Financial Framework (NFF), with Microsoft Azure Blockchain to build a ledger agnostic blockchain capability that supports a multi-ledger strategy. The aim…

Blockchain can handle US equity market volumes, so what’s next?

November 2, 2018

blockchain, distributed ledger technologies, DTCC, Jennifer Peve

There’s a lot of anticipation, and a dose of cynicism, over when blockchain technologies are going to be ready for prime time, and regulators and market participants watching developments closely…

HKEX teaming up with Digital Asset for Stock Connect post-trade blockchain

October 31, 2018

blockchain, Digital Asset, DLT, HKEX, settlement, Stock Connect

In a speech opening Hong Kong Fintech Week, Charles Li, the chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX), announced its partnership with Digital Asset. This follows the successful…

Standard Bank and Nigeria’s CSD complete blockchain pilot, pan-African plan suggested

October 28, 2018

Africa, blockchain, CSDs, Standard Bank, Tata Consultancy Services

India-headquartered Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) announced that two of its BaNCS software customers in Africa — Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS), the Central Securities Depository (CSD) of Nigeria, and South…

Canada DLT settlement project results promising, but benefits need scale

October 28, 2018

blockchain, DLT, Project Jasper

In an assessment of its latest phase of blockchain experimentation, Payments Canada found that while distributed ledger technology (DLT) shows promise in terms of its ability to deliver efficiency improvements,…

Alibaba Cloud launches global blockchain-as-a-service

October 28, 2018

Alibaba, Ant Financial, blockchain

Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group, expanded its Blockchain as a Service (BlaaS) offering to major global markets including South East Asia, the US and Europe. BlaaS…

Deutsche Börse and Bundesbank expect rapid blockchain development after tests

October 25, 2018

Blockbaster, blockchain, Bundesbank, Deutsche Borse, Digital Asset

Deutsche Bundesbank and Deutsche Börse have successfully completed the performance tests of their jointly specified prototypes for securities settlement based on blockchain technology. The prototypes support the settlement of securities…

Deutsche Bank: future of fintech shaped in next few years

October 19, 2018

APIs, artificial intelligence, ASIFMA, blockchain, cloud, Deutsche Bank, EY, Google, Microsoft

Forward-thinking regulation will be the catalyst for banking transformation, and the next few years will shape the future of financial technology, according to a Deutsche Bank white paper. This makes…

Blockchain “scam” critics are adding noise, not signal

October 17, 2018

blockchain, DBRS, distributed ledger technology, DTCC, incrementum, ISSA

There will likely be a stream of critics claiming that blockchain and/or cryptocurrencies are a scam, but the industry that’s sprouting around the technologies is not going to go away.…

Rates & Repo 2018: what to expect on liquidity, SOFR, tri-party and blockchain

October 15, 2018

Josh Galper

Blockchain, Repo

blockchain, Finadium events, Liquidity, Rates & Repo 2018, SOFR, topstory

Planning for our Rates & Repo 2018 conference, November 5 in New York, is in full swing. With well over 100 attendees now confirmed, we expect the second year of…

Bloomberg: crypto pits economists against engineers

October 13, 2018

blockchain, cryptocurrencies, Ethereum, Roubini, Senate Banking Committee

Economist Nouriel Roubini, nicknamed Dr. Doom for predicting the most recent global financial crisis, has crossed swords with cryptocurrency guru and Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin. In the epic battle of…

Fintech M&A at $39.3bn, up 26%, in H1 2018 yoy

October 8, 2018

blockchain, fundraising, Hampleton Partners, Insurtech, machine learning, PSD2

The latest Fintech M&A Market Report from international technology mergers and acquisitions advisors, Hampleton Partners, shows the fintech sector with 141 transactions in the first half of 2018, with a…

Reuters+: Qatar Financial Center on fintech’s role in Islamic Finance

October 7, 2018

blockchain, data mining, Islamic finance, Qatar

Islamic finance has taken great strides this century, with sharia-compliant financial assets forecast to total $3.8 trillion by 2022, according to a Thomson Reuters report. That’s up from $2.2 trillion…

Turkey’s financial regulator washes hands of regulating crypto, warns investors

October 4, 2018

blockchain, cryptocurrencies, Regulation, Turkey

The Capital Markets Board (CMB) issued an announcement in late September addressing the much-disputed status of digital tokens and Initial Coin Offerings (ICO). CMB stated that it does not regulate…

Malta announces highly anticipated crypto laws in effect Nov 1

September 29, 2018

blockchain, cryptocurrencies, Malta

The Maltese Government has published the long-awaited legal notices establishing the 1st November 2018 as the date on which the Virtual Financial Assets (VFA) Act and the Innovative Technology Arrangements…

Austrian bank to use blockchain notarization for €1.2 bn Federal bond auction

September 29, 2018

Austria, blockchain, sovereign bonds

Following successful tests, a blockchain notarization service will be used for the first time at the next week’s Federal Bond Auction. Next Tuesday (2 October 2018), two outstanding German government…

IBM and broker in proof-of-insurance first using blockchain

September 29, 2018

blockchain, insurance

Insurance broker Marsh announced that it is expanding its collaboration with IBM to provide clients with wider access to the industry’s first commercial blockchain solution for proof-of-insurance. By using blockchain…

TD plans robo-advisory on the blockchain for direct investing clients

September 27, 2018

artificial intelligence, blockchain, Hydrogen, robo-advisor, TD Bank

TD Bank Group announced a commercial licensing agreement with The Hydrogen Technology Corporation (Hydrogen) to make a complete, end-to-end digital investing experience. The initial phase of the design will integrate Hydrogen’s Application…

Ant Financial rebrand sets sights on AI and blockchain for finance

September 21, 2018

Ant Financial, artificial intelligence, blockchain

Ant Financial announced a new brand, Ant Financial Technology, specific to financial institutions, which will have a portfolio of five products: large-scale financial transaction technologies, financial security technologies, financial intelligence technologies,…

CCN: SEC charges blockchain company heads with $27mn pump-and-dump

September 12, 2018

blockchain, cryptocurrencies, fraud, Securities and Exchange Commission

Two of the blockchain hype bubble’s flagship companies now find themselves with new captains at their respective helms, after their CEOs stepped down days after being charged by US regulators…

ASX delays blockchain settlement system go-live date

September 7, 2018

ASX, blockchain, settlement

The Australian Securities Exchange has released a new scope and implementation plan for the replacement of its settlement system CHESS. The earliest go-live date has been moved back six months…

Crypto legal eagles warn on tech’s US regulatory uncertainty

September 7, 2018

Alex Tonhazy

blockchain, Coinvention, cryptocurrencies, fintech regulation

Blockchain has been called everything from a dream technology to a bubble that has the potential to be the driving force of the next bear market in the United States.…

Morgan Stanley: next-gen tech leaders will be 2B using AI and blockchain

September 6, 2018

artificial intelligence, Big Tech, blockchain, Morgan Stanley

Even people who barely pay attention to the stock market know that technology has been a winning trade for years. The tech sector was up nearly 40% in 2017 and…

Institutional distributed ledger and blockchain groups merge

September 5, 2018

blockchain, distributed ledger, GBBC, PTDL

The Post-Trade Distributed Ledger (PTDL) Group announced that it will merge with the trade association, Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC), according to an emailed release. PTDL was founded in November…

Deutsche Börse sets up “DLT, Crypto Assets and New Market Structures” team

September 5, 2018

blockchain, Deutsche Borse, distributed ledger technology

After investing in various blockchain initiatives, Deutsche Börse Group is establishing a “DLT, Crypto Assets and New Market Structures” unit, which will focus on the further development of a group-wide…

Bitcoin Mag: Canada delays regulation of cryptocurrencies and blockchain firms

August 30, 2018

blockchain, Canada, cryptocurrencies, Regulations

The Canadian government has postponed the release of its final regulations for cryptocurrency and blockchain companies. The final published regulations were due this fall, but the government now says they…

Most so-called DLT systems aren’t, and market actors should know the difference

August 29, 2018

blockchain, Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, distributed ledger technology