Industry leaders join forces to host groundbreaking event during ETHDenver 2025 where Stablecoin innovation meets B2B finance
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PayPal, Deloitte,and Bitwave will co-host On-Chain B2B Payments Day. A transformative event dedicated to accelerating the global adoption of Blockchain powered B2B payments.
Exploring Blockchain technologies
On-Chain B2B Payments Daywill bring together hundreds of senior financial leaders, accountants, auditors, and enterprise executives on February 27 at ETHDenver. They will explore how stablecoins and Blockchain technologies are reshaping the future of payments for businesses.
“With the broader adoption of blockchain networks and digital assets, stablecoins play a critical role,” said Deloitte Tax LLP Partner, Global Tax Leader – Blockchain & Digital Assets, Rob Massey. “Business transactions take on a whole new dynamic when these ‘programmable’ funds interact with the software applications on a near real time basis. Furthermore, with that, we end up with unique tax, accounting and risk considerations.”
Redefining payments with Blockchain
The Blockchain event will be presented alongside ETHDenver – the annual conference for Ethereum developers and Blockchain advocates. On-Chain B2B Payments Day kicks off with a networking brunch and panel discussion featuring some of the leading voices in payment innovation. The event is sponsored by NetSuite alongside other key industry contributors.
“Stablecoins offer an unprecedented opportunity to transform payment operations for global business,” said Bitwave Co-Founder and COO, Amy Kalnoki. “At Bitwave, we expect to see on-chain payments become one of the fastest-growing areas of Blockchain adoption in 2025. Moreover, this event will provide financial leaders with insights into how on-chain technology will redefine cross-border payments, liquidity management, and real-time reporting.”
Why Attend On-Chain B2B Payments Day?
Gain Practical Insights: Learn from financial experts about accounting, tax, and regulatory frameworks for building a compliant and future-ready payment practice.
Discover Real-World Use Cases: Explore how stablecoins are transforming B2B payments, from accounts receivable (AR) to accounts payable (AP) and beyond.
Engage with Industry Leaders: Connect with top decision-makers from leading enterprises, institutions, and crypto-native organisations advancing on-chain payments between vendors and payers.
Bonus: Take the “Bitwave Vendor Payment Pledge” and join an exclusive network of business partners accepting stablecoin invoice payments.
FICO’s use of Blockchain for AI model governance wins Tech of the Future: Blockchain and Tokenisation award
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Global analytics software leader FICO has won the Tech of the Future – Blockchain and Tokenisation award. The Banking Tech Awards in London recognised FICO for its innovative work using Blockchain technology for AI model governance. FICO’s use of blockchain to advance responsible AI is the first time blockchain has been used to track end-to-end provenance of a machine learning model. This approach can help meet responsible AI and regulatory requirements.
FICO’s AI Innovation and Development team has developed and patented an immutable blockchain ledger. It tracks end-to-end provenance of the development, operationalisation and monitoring of machine learning models. The technology enforces the use of a corporate-wide responsible AI model development standard by organisations. It demonstrates adherence to the standard with specific requirements, people, results, testing, approvals and revisions. In addition to the Banking Tech award, Global Finance recognised FICO’s blockchain for AI technology with The Innovators award last year.
Responsible AI
“The rapid growth of AI use has made Responsible AI an imperative,” commented Dr. Scott Zoldi, chief analytics officer at FICO. “FICO is focused on technologies that ensure AI is used in an ethical way, and governance is absolutely critical. We are proud to receive another award for our groundbreaking work in this area.”
FICO is well-known as a leader in AI for financial services. Its FICO® Falcon® Fraud Manager solution, launched in 1992, was the first fraud solution to use neural networks. Today it manages some four billion payment cards worldwide. FICO has built advanced analytics capabilities into FICO® Platform, an applied intelligence platform for building decision management solutions.
Bryan Daugherty, Global Public Policy Director at the BSV Association (BSVA) and Co-Founder at SmartLedger Solutions, on how blockchain technology provides the accountability and cybersecurity needed to prevent widespread IT catastrophes across sectors
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By Embracing Blockchain, We Can Create a Safer Digital Future
The rapid increase in cyberattacks poses a severe threat to businesses. These attacks are becoming more sophisticated and costly by the day. The average cost of a data breach in the UK is £3.58 million, and in the US now $9 million. It typically takes 200 days for organisations to detect a breach, followed by another 70 days to contain it. These delays expose significant vulnerabilities in traditional data management systems. They rely heavily on third parties, making them prime targets for cybercriminals.
Blockchain technology offers a transformative solution to these challenges by creating a secure, decentralised model that can effectively mitigate risks. It provides an opportunity for both individuals and organisations to take control of their data. Therefore, improving cybersecurity and ensuring operational resilience.
The Problem with Centralised Systems
Traditional cybersecurity systems are built on centralised models, where data is stored in one location or through third-party intermediaries. This structure makes them attractive targets for cybercriminals, creating a “honeypot” of information that can be breached. A concerning statistic is that, for over a decade, organisations have taken an average of 200 days to detect breaches. Despite claims from cybersecurity vendors that they provide “instant detection,” real-world results show significant gaps in protection, putting data at risk for extended periods.
Blockchain: Game-Changing Cybersecurity Features
Blockchain’s decentralised model provides a powerful alternative. By distributing data across a global network of nodes rather than a central location, blockchain makes it exponentially harder for cybercriminals to compromise large datasets. Even if one node is breached, the entire system remains intact. This eliminates the single point of failure that centralised systems suffer from.
Another key feature of blockchain is its immutability. Once data is recorded on a blockchain, it cannot be altered or erased, making tampering nearly impossible. Therefore, this ensures any unauthorised access is immediately detectable, enabling quicker response times and minimising damage.
Real-Time Threat Detection with CERTIHASH
Blockchain’s potential in cybersecurity is already being realised through solutions like CERTIHASH’s Sentinel Node. A blockchain-based tool that provides real-time threat detection. Built on the BSV blockchain, CERTIHASH can detect breaches within 10 seconds or less, offering a proactive approach to cybersecurity. This is a significant improvement over traditional systems, which often take months to identify breaches, leaving organisations vulnerable to prolonged data exposure.
By leveraging blockchain, cybersecurity shifts from being reactive to proactive. This gives organisations the tools they need to stay ahead of evolving threats and safeguard data more effectively.
Overcoming Misconceptions About Blockchain
Despite the clear advantages of blockchain, many organisations remain hesitant to adopt the technology, often due to misconceptions. Furthermore, some still associate blockchain with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which have been linked to ransomware. This outdated view overlooks blockchain’s real potential as a secure, decentralised data management tool.
Blockchain is not just about crypto; it’s about creating a new standard for data integrity and security. Moreover, it offers decentralised, tamper-proof records that give users control over their own identity and data, reducing reliance on vulnerable third-party systems.
A Decentralised, Secure Future
As global reliance on centralised systems grows, so do the vulnerabilities they present. A single point of failure can lead to widespread outages, as seen in numerous cyberattacks and technical malfunctions. Blockchain, with its decentralised architecture, offers a robust alternative that enhances the security and resilience of critical systems. By distributing data across multiple nodes, blockchain ensures continuity even during attacks or outages.
Conclusion
Investing in blockchain cybersecurity is no longer optional. With cyber-attacks growing in scale and sophistication, organisations must adopt cutting-edge technologies to protect their data, operations, and customer trust. Blockchain’s decentralised and tamper-proof architecture offers the key to building a safer, more secure digital future. One where businesses and individuals alike can operate with confidence, free from the constant threat of cybercrime.
Mastercard integrates its Multi-Token Network (MTN) for tokenized deposits and tokenized assets with Kinexys Digital Payments (formerly JPM Coin)
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Mastercard’s blockhain Multi-Token Network (MTN) has connected to Kinexys Digital Payments as a payment settlement solution. This will enhance the availability of B2B cross-border payments to business applications on MTN.
Kinexys Digital Payments is a next-generation payment rail powering real-time value transfer. Also, it uses commercial bank money and is offered through Kinexys by J.P. Morgan, the firm’s Blockchain business unit.
Mastercard’s MTN brings together a set of API-enabled, blockchain-based tools and standards for innovative business models under one platform.
Kinexys by JP Morgan and Mastercard are respectively providing solutions designed to improve the efficiency of commercial transactions. Furthermore, these solutions aim to improve the cross-border payment experiences common for such transactions. They will achieve this by providing greater transparency and faster settlement as well as reducing time zone friction.
By integrating Mastercard MTN’s connectivity with Kinexys Digital Payments, mutual customers of MTN and Kinexys will be able to settle B2B transactions through a single API integration.
Kinexys – JP Morgan’s Blockchain business unit
“At Kinexys, we believe our solutions can play a transformative role in the ecosystem for digital global commerce and digital assets, where the value proposition of commercial transaction venues is enhanced by the availability of commercial bank payment rails that can natively integrate with any digital marketplace or platform. We look forward to supporting our clients engaging with the MTN ecosystem and collaborating further with Mastercard in the digital space.”
Naveen Mallela, Co-Head of Kinexys by JP Morgan
MTN – Mastercard’s Multi-Token Network
“For years, both Mastercard and Kinexys by JP Morgan have been committed to innovating for the future of digital asset and commercial infrastructure. By bringing together the power and connectivity of Mastercard’s MTN with Kinexys Digital Payments, we are unlocking greater speed and settlement capabilities for the entire value chain. Moreover, we are excited about this integration and the new use cases it will bring to life, leveraging the strengths and innovations of both organisations.”
Raj Dhamodharan, executive vice president, Blockchain and Digital Assets at Mastercard
Other key findings include surge of info-stealers and botnets, an increase in evasive malware and a rise in network attacks across the Asia Pacific
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WatchGuard® Technologies, a global leader in unified Cybersecurity, today released the findings of its latest Internet Security Report. The quarterly analysis details the top malware, network, and endpoint security threats observed during the second quarter of 2024.
Among the report’s key findings was that 7 of the Top 10 malware threats by volume were new this quarter. Furthermore, this indicates threat actors are pivoting toward new techniques. The new top threats included Lumma Stealer. This advanced malware is designed to steal sensitive data from compromised systems. Also, a Mirai Botnet variant, which infects smart devices and enables threat actors to turn them into remotely controlled bots. And a LokiBot malware, which targets Windows and Android devices and aims to steal credential information.
Cybersecurity fears for Blockchain
WatchGuard’s Cybersecurity Threat Lab also observed new instances of threat actors employing “EtherHiding”. A method of embedding malicious PowerShell scripts in blockchains such as Binance Smart Contracts. In these instances, a fake error message linking to the malicious script appears on compromised websites, prompting victims to “update your browser”. Malicious code in blockchains poses a long-term threat. As blockchains are not meant to be changed, theoretically, a blockchain could become an immutable host of malicious content.
“The latest findings in the Q2 2024 Internet Security Report reflect how threat actors tend to fall into patterns of behaviour. Certain attack techniques become trendy and dominant in waves,” said Corey Nachreiner, CSO, WatchGuard Technologies. “Moreover, the report illustrates the importance of routinely updating and patching software and systems to address security gaps and ensure threat actors cannot exploit older vulnerabilities. Adopting a defence-in-depth approach, which can be executed effectively by a dedicated managed service provider, is a vital step toward combating these cybersecurity challenges successfully.”
Additional key findings from WatchGuard’s Report include:
Malware detections were down 24% overall. This drop was caused by a 35% decrease in signature-based detections. However, threat actors were simply shifting focus to more evasive malware. Moreover, in Q2 2024, the Threat Lab’s advanced behavioural engine that identifies ransomware, zero-day threats, and evolving malware threats, found a 168% increase in evasive malware detections quarter-over-quarter.
Network attacks increased 33% from Q1 2024. Across regions, the Asia Pacific accounted for 56% of all network attack detections, more than doubling since the previous quarter.
An NGINX vulnerability, originally detected in 2019, was the top network attack by volume in Q2 2024. It had not appeared in the Threat Lab’s Top 50 network attacks in previous quarters. The vulnerability accounted for 29% of total network attack detection volume, or approximately 724,000 detections across the US, EMEA, and APAC.
The Fuzzbunch hacking toolkit emerged as the second-highest endpoint malware threat detected by volume. The toolkit serves as an open-source framework that can be used to attack Windows operating systems. It was stolen during The Shadow Brokers’ attack of the Equation Group, an NSA contractor, in 2016.
Seventy-four percent of all browser-initiated endpoint malware attacks targeted Chromium-based browsers, which include Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Brave.
A signature that detects malicious web content, trojan.html.hidden.1.gen, came in as the fourth most-widespread malware variant. The most common threat category caught by this signature involved phishing campaigns. These gather credentials from a user’s browser and deliver this information to an attacker-controlled server. Curiously, the Threat Lab observed a sample of this signature targeting students and faculty at Valdosta State University in Georgia.
UBS Digital Cash aims to increase efficiency, transparency and to enable the programmability of money movements for corporate and institutional clients
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Cross-border payments often lead to delayed settlements. As a result, this creates a fragmented view of liquidity positions for companies. The aim is to increase transparency and security with blockchain-based payments via UBS Digital Cash. Moreover, this should in turn facilitate timely payment processing. In addition, companies should be able to manage intraday-liquidity and adjust liquidity buffers on their accounts more easily in the future. This is thanks to greater visibility of their total cash positions.
USB Digital Cash with Blockchain
Andy Kollegger, Head UBS Institutional & Multinational Banking, says: ”UBS Digital Cash going forward aims to enable our clients to make cross-border payments in a much more efficient and transparent way. Furthermore, Blockchain-based payment solutions for cross-border payments are a strategic focus for UBS. With the successful UBS Digital Cash pilot, we have reached another important milestone.”
In the pilot, transactions with multinational clients and banks were successfully carried out. These included domestic transactions within Switzerland and cross-border payments in US dollars, Swiss francs, Euros and Chinese yuan. Additionally, the pilot also included the transfer of liquidity between various UBS companies. UBS plans to expand and develop its UBS Digital Cash offering in further steps.
The advantages of Blockchain-based payments solutions
Pilot participant Janko Hahn, Head Treasury Operations at Autoneum, says: “The UBS Digital Cash pilot showcased the key advantages of blockchain-based payment solutions. They make cross border transactions faster, on time and provide a seamless traceability, which is a huge benefit when operating in a global market.”
Xiaonan Zou, UBS Head Digital Assets, Group Treasury, adds: ”We see the interoperability between UBS Digital Cash and other digital cash initiatives as key for the financial industry. In addition to their role in correspondent banking, they also have the potential to streamline and simplify the settlement of tokenised assets in the capital market.”
How does UBS Digital Cash work?
For the payment process, UBS Digital Cash uses a private blockchain network to which only the permissioned clients have access. The settlement is performed via smart contracts, which, for example, automatically execute payments as soon as predefined conditions are met. Client transfers at UBS are recorded and processed in a digital system for recording transactions. They are independent of currency, practically in real time and around the clock. UBS Digital Cash complements UBS’s involvement in a wide range of market initiatives. These include the Swiss National Bank-led project Helvetia for real wholesale Swiss franc Central Bank Digital Currency (wCBDC), as well as the Agorá project, led by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) together with seven central banks, to unlock central bank money and tokenised deposits from commercial banks in the cross-border payment context.
About UBS
UBS is a leading global asset manager and the leading universal bank in Switzerland. In addition, the company offers diversified wealth management solutions and focused investment banking functions. With the acquisition of Credit Suisse, UBS has assets under management of $5.7 trillion as of the fourth quarter of 2023. UBS supports its clients in achieving their financial goals through personalised advice, solutions and products. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, the company operates in more than 50 markets around the globe. UBS Group AG shares are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange.
Bitget announces $100k seed funding through ‘Pitch n Slay’ roadshow competition
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Bitget has launched the ‘Pitch n Slay’ roadshow competition, aiming to provide financial support, professional guidance and exposure for female entrepreneurs. This will be delivered through collaborations with organisations such as World of Women, Women in Web3, Bitget Wallet, Foresight Ventures and Morph. The initiative is designed to help female leaders expand their projects.
Bitget Blockchain boost for female entrepreneurs
The final will be held during DevCon in Bangkok, Thailand on November 15. The shortlisted “Pitch n Slay” project contestants will present their optimised projects to investors and a jury panel. The jury members include Gracy Chen – CEO of Bitget; Taya A – CEO of World of Women; Min Xu – Partner at Foresight Ventures; along with other outstanding Web3 leaders. Three winners will have the opportunity to share $100k seed funding.
Blockchain4Her
Bitget is the third largest exchange for crypto derivatives with a user base, surpassing 20 million registered accounts globally. Furthermore, it is one of the largest platforms for cryptocurrency copy trading. Meanwhile, the daily trading volume on Bitget exceeds 10 billion USDT, reflecting its significant market presence.
“Bitget is committed to gender inclusivity with women making up more than 45% of our management team. We are also dedicated to creating an inclusive culture for the LGBT community. Through the Blockchain4Her program we hope to create more growth opportunities for women-led startups We’ll continue to expand this platform, creating pathways for growth and amplifying women-led startups in Web3.”
Gracy Chen, CEO, Bitget
About Bitget
With a background in traditional finance, Bitget’s founding team discovered blockchain technology in 2015. But it was viewed as “tulip mania” by the industry back then. In 2018, we became intrigued by cryptocurrency after studying the Bitcoin whitepaper and Ethereum ecosystem. We believed that cryptocurrency would play an important role in the future and even benefit the unbanked groups.
Born in a bear market, Bitget insists on putting users first, focusing on product innovation, and advocating long-term development with the spirit of earnestness. The company aims to inspire people to embrace crypto and improve the way they trade, one at a time.
DBS Token Services, marks new milestone in financial services with blockchain
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DBS has announced the introduction of DBS Token Services. The new suite of banking services integrates tokenisation and smart contract-enabled capabilities with award-winning banking services. It aims to unlock new transaction banking capabilities and operating efficiencies for its institutional clients with blockchain.
DBS Token Services via Blockchain
DBS Token Services unlocks instant, 24/7 real-time settlement of payments. It integrates the bank’s Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible permissioned blockchain. This is the core payment engine and multiple industry payment infrastructure for DBS. In addition, smart contracts enable programmability for institutions to govern the use of funds according to predefined conditions. Enhancing security and transparency. Using a permissioned blockchain provides DBS full control over these services. It enables the bank to harness the benefits of blockchain technology while adhering to compliance standards.
The project is the culmination of several years of industry collaborations and experimentation in digital money innovations. The suite of solutions includes Treasury Tokens, Conditional Payments, and Programmable Rewards. It exemplifies how established financial institutions can leverage blockchain technology and smart contracts to deliver new client experiences.
Lim Soon Chong, Group Head of Global Transaction Services, DBS Bank
“To capture the massive shift of human and corporate activity to on-demand digital services, companies and public sector entities are reimagining their operating models and customer engagement strategies. A new generation of ‘always-on’ banking services is essential to support this shift and transformation.
“By leveraging tokenisation and smart contract capabilities, DBS Token Services enables companies and public sector entities. They can optimise liquidity management, streamline operational workflows, strengthen business resilience, and unlock new opportunities for end-customer or end-user engagement. It marks a significant step forward in transaction banking. It demonstrates how established financial institutions can leverage blockchain technology to deliver new ground-breaking features and experiences.”
DBS: Shaping the future of finance with Blockchain
Since 2016, DBS has been a driving force in several industry initiatives led by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. It has been exploring the potential of blockchain technology in enhancing Singapore’s financial landscape. Key initiatives include Project Ubin, Project Orchidand Project Guardian.
DBS Token Services continues to explore broader applications of blockchain enabled solutions. These include the tokenisation of securities and digitalisation of trade finance. These innovations reflect DBS’ ongoing commitment to building a more robust and innovative banking landscape..
WaveBL Completes a new groundbreaking network connectivity Proof of Value (POV) with Swift, the participation of five global banks, and leading ocean carrier eBL Issuer MSC
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WaveBL, the leading blockchain based electronic Bill of Lading (eBL) platform, has completed a groundbreaking Proof of Value (POV). It worked with Swift and the participation of five global banks. Lloyds, Emirates NBD Bank, Federal Bank Limited, and other banks. Furthermore, MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), a leading ocean carrier acted as an eBL issuer on WaveBL.
The POV successfully demonstrated the transfer of structured electronic document presentations (including eBLs) originated on the Platform. They were sent to and between Swift members, and back to the Platform, all as part of a Letter of Credit (LC) transaction. The process was executed utilising a series of Swift FIN messages and FileAct transfers from WaveBL to the different banks. The process maintained possession and title management of the electronic trade documents on WaveBL’s ledger of issuance.
Describing the Flow of the POV with WaveBL
The POV involved two eBLs – one straight and one negotiable – both issued by MSC on the WaveBL platform. The eBLs were first sent to an exporter on the WaveBL platform. Here, commercial documents like a packing list, invoice, and certificate of origin were added. These were then sent to the advising bank by the platform over the secure and resilient Swift network, using an MT message and a FileAct document transfer. In turn, the advising bank and the issuing bank exchanged the presentation between them while WaveBL’s ledger maintained the tracking of possession and title of the contained eBLs.
Ultimately, the issuing bank released the documents to the LC applicant, who is the importer, including the endorsement of the negotiable eBL from the issuing bank to the order of the importer on the Platform. All of which was instructed to the platform through a Swift MT message. This streamlined process allows for payments to be received within hours, rather than days. This is often the case with transactions that involve the physical transfer of documents. Similarly, with the eBLs surrendered back to MSC on the platform, the importer was able to collect the goods at the port of destination without delay.
Strengthening the supply chain-trade finance connectivity: The WaveBL Swift gateway
This groundbreaking POV underscores WaveBL’s dedication to making its network fully integrated with the financial system. This allows customers to seamlessly interact with Swift members and among participants themselves. For Swift members, electronic trade documents could soon be exchanged via WaveBL using their existing Swift infrastructure. And without requiring the installation or use of any specialised software or service.
WaveBL anticipates that the concept led through this POV will further its mission of creating seamless connectivity between the supply chain and financial markets. It will drive the shift towards 100% adoption of eBLs, as outlined in the FIT Alliance Declaration of September 2023. WaveBL is also looking forward to becoming the first electronic trade document provider to achieve full connectivity with the entire Swift community. This allows all banks a simple, standardised way to receive and send electronic bank presentations originated on the platform.
Innovative approach by leading banks
The participating banks have all previously demonstrated exceptional innovation by using WaveBL as their entry point to the eBL market. They gained experience by exchanging electronic trade document presentations in live commercial transactions. As part of the POV, WaveBL, Swift and the banks established a joint working group. This was aimed at analysing the methodologies and structure of the Swift MT messages and the electronic presentations proven during the POV. Moreover, their involvement highlights a commitment to advancing trade finance through digitisation and cutting-edge technologies for document exchange. WaveBL is eager to continue working with the joint working group as its expected integration with the Swift network unfolds.
Boaz Lessem, Chief of Legal Regulation and Partnerships, WaveBL:
“As the eBL market continues to grow, this POV solidifies our vision of seamless connectivity between WaveBL and Swift, providing a new, standardised solution for banks that prefer not to use the platform’s interface directly. By leveraging Swift’s trusted infrastructure, banks will now be able to exchange electronic trade documents with ease. Enabling greater flexibility and efficiency in trade finance. I believe this connectivity will lead the way to an increased value proposition for the electronic transformation to eBLs. I thank the Swift team for its ongoing leadership and support as part of this POV, driving forward this important initiative in trade finance digitisation.”
PayPal Ventures, the global venture capital arm of PayPal, announced additional investment in Chaos Labs. This investment underscores PayPal Ventures’ confidence…
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PayPal Ventures, the global venture capital arm of PayPal, announced additional investment in Chaos Labs. This investment underscores PayPal Ventures’ confidence in Chaos Labs’ potential and their blockchain products.
Chaos Labs: Edge
Chaos Labs’ recent launch of Edge, a new decentralised oracle protocol, has garnered significant attention within the industry. Edge has already secured a remarkable $30 billion over the last 2 months. It has been adopted by leading exchanges such as Jupiter, the top perpetuals exchange on Solana. And also by GMX, the leading exchange on Arbitrum.
Edge offers a comprehensive, low-latency oracle solution. It combines accurate price data with actionable market intelligence. Its advanced architecture ensures the security and efficiency of DeFi applications. Furthermore, providing insights into market dynamics and security risks. Edge monitors the market for specific risk signals, performs the offchain data parsing and computation, and outputs one actionable data point.
Omer Goldberg, CEO and Founder of Chaos Labs on the PayPal Ventures investment
Omer Goldberg, CEO and Founder of Chaos Labs, said, “We’re excited to receive the strong confidence and additional support from the PayPal Ventures team. Edge by Chaos is the culmination of our entire company’s work and expertise. Edge Price, Risk, and Proofs deliver meaningful and unmatched contextualised risk and price data for assets including stablecoins and other real-world-assets. In addition to the crypto assets and venues that provide access to them.”
Last month, Chaos Labs announced a $55 million Series A funding round led by Haun Ventures, including prominent new investors such as F-Prime Capital, Slow Ventures, and Spartan Capital, and existing investors including PayPal Ventures. Chaos Labs has experienced significant growth, tripling its customer base and securing billions in trading volume, loans, and incentives.
PayPal committed to Blockchain
PayPal Ventures’ investment aligns with PayPal’s ongoing commitment to the blockchain ecosystem. In May 2024, PayPal launched its stablecoin, PYUSD, on the Solana blockchain.
Amman Bhasin, Partner at PayPal Ventures, said, “Our continued investment in Chaos Labs reflects our belief in their vision to create a safer crypto ecosystem. And move more financial services on chain. Chaos Labs has emerged as a leading risk authority in the sector and we are thrilled to witness their evolution as they launch innovative products like Edge to mitigate oracle vulnerabilities.”
About Chaos Labs
Chaos Labs leads the blockchain risk management industry with innovative solutions for the evolving onchain financial landscape. It enables protocols to verify stability across all market conditions, merging offchain observability with onchain risk parameter adjustments. Backed by leading venture capital firms, Chaos Labs continues to set new standards for security and responsiveness in onchain finance. Founded in 2021, Chaos Labs is headquartered in New York City.
About PayPal Ventures
PayPal Ventures is the global corporate venture arm of PayPal. We invest for financial return in companies at the forefront of innovation in fintech, commerce enablement, digital infrastructure, and crypto/blockchain technologies. Through the expertise, experience, and vast network of PayPal Ventures – and the companies we invest in – we are helping to bring transformative solutions to market faster. For more information, please visit: www.paypal.vc
The 2008 global financial crisis exposed vulnerabilities in the traditional financial system. In response, blockchain technology emerged, offering a solution. …
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The 2008 global financial crisis exposed vulnerabilities in the traditional financial system. In response, blockchain technology emerged, offering a solution.
With its ability to address these weaknesses, blockchain holds significant potential to transform the banking industry. This article will explore how blockchain can be used in banking and the benefits it offers for a more secure and efficient financial industry.
Introduction to Blockchain in Banking
Blockchain technology is changing the way data is stored and shared. It’s a digital record spread across a network of computers. This system uses cryptography for security, allowing authorised participants to update the records without needing a central authority.
Once information is added to the blockchain, it’s impossible to alter or erase. To add new entries, network participants verify transactions using complex algorithms.
Traditionally, banks and payment systems rely on intermediaries to facilitate transactions. However, blockchain’s distributed network allows for direct consensus and verification between participants, streamlining the entire process.
Blockchain Case Study: Payment Processing
Central and commercial banks around the world are exploring blockchain for payment processing. This interest extends to cross-border payments, traditionally dominated by companies like SWIFT and Western Union.
Several successful blockchain implementations in banking serve as case studies. In 2015, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) teamed up with Ripple, a fintech company specialising in blockchain solutions for international payments. Their goal was to build a system using blockchain to speed up settlement processes between CBA’s different branches.
Westpac, another major Australian bank, followed suit in 2016 by partnering with Ripple to create a cost-effective system for cross-border payments using blockchain.
Blockchain Case Study: Trade Finance
Trade finance, handling all aspects of domestic and international commerce, relies heavily on banks to facilitate transactions. Traditionally, this involves managing risk, providing credit, and allowing both exporters and importers to participate. However, the system often suffers from slow and outdated paper-based documentation.
Recognising this need for improvement, leading institutions like Standard Chartered and HSBC have joined groups exploring blockchain technology for trade finance. One example is Voltron, a platform designed by R3 and CryptoBLK to digitise letters of credit.
Pilot projects across 14 countries with over 50 companies and banks participating yielded notable results, reducing letter of credit processing time from five days to less than 24 hours. Building on this success, Voltron rebranded as Contour in 2020, launching a digital trade finance network with R3 and other banks as supporters.
Blockchain Case Study: KYC
Know Your Customer (KYC) processes are a slow hurdle in banking as they can take weeks to complete. The system also suffers from wasted effort, as each bank asks new clients for the same information.
This inefficiency creates high costs for banks. Compliance burdens are heavy, and penalties for not following the rules are significant. The constant changes in regulations make it difficult for banks to stay compliant.
Chris Huls of Rabobank proposed a solution—storing KYC information on a blockchain. This secure and transparent technology acts as a shared platform for customer data. Once a bank completes KYC, a summary can be uploaded to the blockchain. Authorised institutions can then access this information, eliminating repetitive checks.
Benefits Realised
Blockchain technology offers a new way to store and manage data. Unlike traditional databases, blockchain spreads data across a network of computers and creates a public record that’s difficult to tamper with.
Any attempt to change a record in one place would be caught by other computers in the network. This system eliminates the possibility of any single entity manipulating information.
Furthermore, blockchain promotes transparency. Transactions are visible to anyone who wants to see them, with tools allowing real-time tracking. This can lead to faster processing times for consumers, potentially reducing transaction completion to minutes, regardless of location or time.
Inter-bank transfers can also benefit from blockchain’s efficiency and security. Large sums involved in these transactions come with risk and cost during the current multi-day settlement process.
Lessons Learned and Future Outlook
These case studies demonstrate the technology’s ability to streamline transactions, reduce friction, and enhance security. The technology also promotes transparency and immutability of data.
However, a major challenge remains—ensuring customer data privacy. Public blockchains, with their inherent openness, create obstacles. Permissioned blockchains with strong encryption offer some solutions, but cybersecurity concerns still exist. Building trust and widespread adoption requires addressing these data privacy issues.
Regulatory uncertainty presents another hurdle. Currently, there’s no central authority overseeing and regulating blockchain protocols. The need for some form of governance is apparent, but careful consideration will need to be given to the distribution of power within such a system.
The growth of international trade and global mobility has fueled the demand for efficient cross-border payments solutions. Legacy systems are…
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The growth of international trade and global mobility has fueled the demand for efficient cross-border payments solutions. Legacy systems are often slow and expensive, with multiple middlemen and complicated procedures.
With its decentralised and secure nature, blockchain technology offers a compelling alternative. Furthermore, as the cross-border payment market is expected to reach $290 trillion by 2030, blockchain and digital payments are emerging as strong contenders to streamline international transactions.
Introduction to Blockchain in Cross-Border Payments
While blockchains are not designed exclusively for payments, they offer a powerful foundation for streamlining cross-border transactions. Unlike traditional banking systems restricted by national borders, blockchains are global by nature. Also, in a blockchain payment system, payers and payees use a shared network with common data formats. This enables direct transactions to and from anywhere.
Traditional card and banking networks are controlled by individual institutions. Blockchains distribute this authority. Anyone with an internet connection can participate in these permissionless networks. Moreover, this removes the control of centralised systems, making them more accessible for both merchants and customers.
Benefit 1: Speed
Traditional reliance on central authorities can slow down transaction processing. For example, depositing a check on a Friday might not show up in the recipient’s account until Monday because of limited bank hours.
Blockchain technology operates 24/7 and enables much faster settlement times. On some blockchain networks, transactions can be finalised in minutes. This efficiency is especially beneficial for cross-border payments.
Benefit 2: Cost Savings
A report by Jupiter Research shows that by 2030, banks could save over $27 billion in cross-border settlements. This efficiency comes from blockchain eliminating the need for intermediaries. Also, consumers often pay banks or notaries for verification, but blockchain removes this dependency and its fees.
Benefit 3: Security
Traditional and centralised databases use a single point of access, making them vulnerable to cyberattacks. Blockchain technology offers a stronger alternative. It distributes encrypted data across a network of interconnected computers.
This system, called a distributed ledger, makes tampering very difficult. Any change would need to be reflected across the entire network at once. Additionally, blockchain allows controlled access. Only authorised participants can see or modify specific data. This granular control significantly reduces the risk of unauthorised access and fraud.
Benefit 4: Transparency
A key strength of blockchain technology is its transparency. This comes from a fully traceable and tamper-proof transaction record. Therefore, every transaction on the blockchain is permanent and unchangeable.
Once verified by the network, it cannot be altered or deleted. This permanence applies even to attempts to modify a transaction. Moreover, hanging it would require altering every single block after it in the chain, a nearly impossible task.
Benefit 5: Improved Liquidity Management
Liquidity describes how easily you can buy or sell something without affecting the price. For digital currencies, more liquidity means steadier prices with less fluctuation.
Blockchain technology has the potential to change how companies handle liquidity. By offering real-time information on a company’s financial health and available cash, blockchain helps treasurers. They get a complete picture of the company’s cash across all entities, departments, bank accounts, and locations, accessible at any time.
Transparency from blockchain technology empowers treasurers to make more accurate cash flow forecasts. It also helps them allocate cash resources more efficiently, for example, in supply chain finance and refinancing activities.
Benefit 6: Reduced Error Rates
Unlike traditional systems where human errors can occur, blockchain uses a network of computers for verification. Thousands of computers on this network work together to confirm each transaction, making errors much less likely.
Even if one computer makes a mistake, it only affects its copy and is rejected by the rest of the network. This strong verification process creates a highly accurate record of information.
Benefit 7: Better Compliance
Financial regulations create a complex compliance challenge for institutions. Blockchain technology offers a solution with its secure, transparent, and permanent record of transactions. It simplifies compliance processes for regulators, who can monitor and audit transactions more easily.
Blockchain can also streamline customer onboarding and anti-money laundering (AML) efforts. Secure identity management using blockchain streamlines these procedures and guarantees accurate records.
Conclusion
Blockchain technology promises a future of secure, efficient, and streamlined cross-border payments. With its shared record of transactions, it significantly reduces fraud and data breaches. By removing middlemen, blockchain also allows for faster, cheaper transactions with greater transparency throughout.
From fraud detection to reinsurance: the top five applications for blockchain technology in insurtech.
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A blockchain is a digital record stored in encrypted blocks linked by a computer network. It uses a decentralised ledger to offer data security without relying on third parties. Its penetration into various industries, including insurance, has led to a new wave of innovations.
Blockchain in insurance improves efficiency and security, creating a better customer experience. This technology can transform the paperwork-heavy insurance industry into an automated digital system. Blockchain-powered storage systems are safer from fraud and theft. The claim processing process is also faster with blockchain technology, as it enables real-time data collection and analysis.
Blockchain streamlines and speeds up claims processes by the distributed ledger scheme. The ledger allows transparent tracking of the claim process from inception or First Notice of Loss (FNOL) until settled in court or otherwise resolved by the insurer. It contrasts the traditional processes that involve filing, validation, and approval manually, which can be time-consuming.
Blockchain enables policyholders and insurers to monitor each stage of the process in real-time. Customers gain more control over their data, including access rights.
Use case 2: fraud detection
Combating fraud could also be facilitated by blockchain technology. The immutable ledger used in blockchain can record transactions securely, and once the data is stored, it cannot be altered or deleted. This creates an auditable trail for all transactions, allowing insurance companies to identify suspicious activities indicative of fraud.
Blockchain can also validate the authenticity, ownership, and provenance of documents submitted while checking for police reports and claims history. This allows fraud detection linked to a specific identity possible.
Use case 3: policy management
Insurers can improve their policy management using blockchain. It can provide more secure and transparent data storage compared to traditional systems.
Blockchain technology streamlined the policy issuance process by employing smart contracts. Smart contracts are digital contracts that self-execute automatically when the parties involved meet the predefined conditions. This simplifies the administrative process and eliminates the need for intermediaries.
As a less human-dependent system, it also reduces the risk of errors or discrepancies. Human employees can then focus on more complex tasks and reduce overall operational costs.
Use case 4: reinsurance
Blockchain improves transparency and efficiency in the reinsurance market. Reinsurance involves transferring risks between insurance companies to mitigate and distribute risks while increasing capacity. Blockchain technology can simplify this process by allowing customers to submit claims similarly to traditional insurance policies but using the blockchain ledger. The security and transparency offered by the immutable and accessible ledger ensure the safety of this process.
Customers can also get a faster settlement of claims and contracts due to the streamlined process. Payments can be triggered automatically once conditions are met, reducing delays and increasing efficiency.
Use case 5: Peer-to-Peer Insurance
Blockchain ensures transparency and efficiency in Peer-to-Peer (P2P) insurance processes. P2P is a collaborative insurance model where a group of people can pool their resources to insure each other against specific risks. This model has various types, such as auto, life, health, and homeowner insurance, and is usually shared by family members or business partners.
Blockchain can facilitate enhanced security and transparency for P2P insurance policyholders due to the nature of the ledger used. The technology can encode P2P insurance terms and conditions into smart contracts, making it more efficient.
Using blockchain, P2P insurance customers can easily compare quotes from different insurance providers. Customers can also avoid concerns over hidden fees related to agents by using this technology.
Conclusion
Blockchain offers many ways for insurance companies to improve their management, services, and products. It provides a more secure environment, reduced operating costs, and efficient claims processes. Its vast potential for the insurance industry is expected to propel more adoption in the future.
The financial technology sector is witnessing a surge in the adoption of blockchain technology, particularly for its transformative capabilities in customer verification.
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Traditional methods of identity authentication often face limitations in security and reliability, exposing user data to potential breaches. Blockchain, however, offers a compelling solution. This article explores how blockchain technology is changing the way industries approach customer verification.
Blockchain and Identity Verification and Management
Customer verification is critical in ensuring the security of accounts and transactions. Traditional identity management systems relied on trusted authorities to issue and manage credentials. This centralised nature makes them lack transparency and vulnerable to data breaches.
Blockchain presents a transformative solution for this issue. This distributed ledger technology offers a secure and transparent way to store and manage data. Each piece of information is cryptographically linked within a chain of blocks. Each block in the chain contains a unique cryptographic hash, acting as a digital fingerprint. And, lastly, each block’s hash incorporates the hash of the preceding block.
This makes it virtually impossible to tamper with the data once recorded. Any attempt to alter information in a previous block would change its hash, triggering a cascade of changes throughout the chain and exposing the tampering. This inherent security significantly reduces the risk of identity theft and fraud compared to traditional methods.
Another core strength of blockchain technology lies in its inherent transparency. Blockchain technology permanently records every transaction and instance of data entry on a shared ledger, accessible to all participants in the network. This fosters trust by promoting accountability and facilitating immediate verification for activities like dispute resolution.
How Blockchain Improves Efficiency
Customer onboarding for financial institutions hinges on verifying a customer’s identity. Traditionally, this involves multiple document submissions across various institutions. Blockchain technology streamlines this process.
One approach involves storing encrypted personal information (PII) like passports or driver’s licences on the blockchain. Customers would then grant permission to specific institutions to verify their identity. This eliminates the need to repeatedly submit documents for each new financial relationship.
It also creates a more reliable data source for institutions since everyone would be referencing the same information. Additionally, customer control over access simplifies compliance with privacy regulations.
Case Studies
One example of how financial institutions are leveraging blockchain technology for customer verification is Tradle, a Know-Your-Customer (KYC) platform built on blockchain. This platform utilises bots to scan relevant customer information, such as financial data and employment history, providing banks with verifiable background checks to streamline loan approvals.
The gathered information is then secured on the blockchain for both internal bank transfers and external data sharing, ensuring its immutability and trustworthiness. This approach offers financial institutions a secure and efficient way to conduct KYC checks, potentially reducing processing times and fraud risks.
Future Outlook
The future of digital identity management appears to be closely linked with the potential of blockchain technology. A report by Market Research Future predicts a surging market, reaching a valuation of $17.81 billion by 2030, driven by government initiatives that promote blockchain development worldwide.
Blockchain’s core strengths—security and transparency—offer a compelling alternative to traditional identity management systems. Ongoing advancements in blockchain technology and a growing focus on digital identity security point towards a promising future.
Integrating blockchain into financial systems promotes trust among stakeholders, from investors to regulators. This potential stems from blockchain’s transparency, immutability, and security.
The technology offers investors clarity and security. It provides a transparent view of transaction histories and asset ownership, which reduces the risk of fraud and increases investor confidence.
For regulators, blockchain serves as a tool to improve monitoring and enforcement of compliance with regulations. Moreover, the immutable nature of blockchain records ensures accurate and permanent logging of financial transactions. Additionally, aiding in audit trails and regulatory oversight, particularly in areas like anti-money laundering and know your customer (KYC) rules.
Securing transactions with immutable ledgers
Blockchain’s immutable ledger ensures that once data is recorded, it cannot be easily altered or tampered with. Each piece of information, like transaction details, is stored in blocks and protected by unique hash values.
Hash values are alphanumeric strings generated for each block, linking it securely to the previous block. This chaining ensures that any attempt to change data in one block would invalidate the entire chain. Therefore, making tampering detectable and preventing unauthorised alterations.
The security of blockchain is reinforced by its decentralised nature. Copies of the blockchain are stored across multiple computers in a network, and consensus among these nodes ensures the integrity and originality of the data.
This robust system not only enhances security but also supports applications like smart contracts. These automate and enforce agreements based on set conditions.
Blockchain for real-time auditing
Blockchain technology enables real-time auditing, thanks to its decentralised and transparent nature. This ensures auditors can verify the authenticity and integrity of financial data without relying on centralised authorities or intermediaries.
This capability not only improves audit efficiency but also strengthens trust and confidence in financial reporting. Furthermore, auditors can track transactions from their inception through to completion in real-time, reducing the risk of errors. By eliminating the need for manual reconciliation and audit trails, blockchain reduces the time and resources traditionally required for auditing processes.
Meeting regulatory demands with blockchain
The technology helps businesses meet complex regulatory requirements more effectively. As data entries are permanent and secure once recorded, blockchain ensures information cannot be altered or deleted. It provides a reliable way to consolidate and verify data needed for regulatory reporting.
For regulators, blockchain simplifies oversight by offering a shared platform where transaction details are transparent and accessible in real-time. Moreover, this decentralised approach eliminates the need for extensive manual checks and balances, making it easier to monitor and enforce compliance across various stakeholders.
The ability to streamline regulatory reporting is particularly evident in industries like reinsurance. Here, blockchain facilitates faster and more accurate reporting among insured parties, insurers, brokers, and regulators.
Case Studies
Several financial institutions have demonstrated improved transparency through their adoption of blockchain technology. For example, J.P. Morgan offers a prominent use case, which launched its Quorum blockchain platform in 2016.
Quorum, based on Ethereum, has been used for various applications like debt issuance and financial transaction settlements. Moreover, this platform enhances transparency by providing a secure and decentralised way to record and verify transactions, reducing the risk of errors and fraud in financial operations.
Similarly, the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) partnered with BanQu to develop the Supply Chain Finance Blockchain. Additionally, this platform aims to streamline supply chain finance for SMEs in Africa, making transactions more transparent and efficient. Also, by leveraging this tech, AfDB improves visibility across the supply chain, ensuring funds are allocated and tracked accurately, thereby enhancing transparency in financial operations.
Blockchain payments are becoming more popular. In 2023, the adoption of blockchain payments like cryptocurrencies reached a new height of…
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Blockchain payments are becoming more popular. In 2023, the adoption of blockchain payments like cryptocurrencies reached a new height of 420 million users globally, per a Triple-A report. This number is an 800 percent increase compared to the previous year.
Blockchain is a decentralised digital ledger that records and verifies transactions through a network of computers. Unlike traditional payment methods, blockchain payments occur directly between parties. Each transaction is stored in a ‘block’ linked to previous blocks, forming a chronological chain.
The technology provides enhanced security and speed for cross-border payments. International payments used to be a complex process due to the different currencies and banking systems involved. However, the technology can simplify transaction processes significantly.
Speed and efficiency
Blockchain payments revolutionised traditional cross-border payments by enabling faster and more efficient transfers.
The decentralised network used in blockchain eliminates the need for a central authority. It simplifies the verification for transactions and avoids process delays. The technology also allows direct peer-to-peer transactions with no extra parties.
Thus, settlement speeds are much faster than in traditional banking systems. Unlike traditional ones, blockchain payments can be made within minutes instead of lengthy periods of days.
Cost reduction
Blockchain cross-border transactions come with significantly lower transaction fees than traditional systems. This is mainly due to the absence of intermediaries.
It also allows users to get lower currency fees than traditional modes. Moreover, cryptocurrency options offer no currency fees at all.
Security enhancements with blockchain
The security systems used by traditional banks involve third parties, which often means heightened vulnerability. The additional parties might experience operational issues that can affect the banks. Each third-party involvement adds possible risks to the main payment system. Blockchain payments remove the need for additional parties and enhance security with better transparency.
They use a decentralised network where multiple network participants verify and record each transaction. This makes it nearly impossible for system manipulation incidents to happen.
The technology also allows the use of smart contracts. These are digital contracts stored in a blockchain that automatically enforce themselves when specific conditions are met. These AI-powered contracts reduce reliance on transaction intermediaries and avoid potential fraud or errors. This contrasts with traditional systems, which require third parties to safeguard information
Case studies
Some financial institutions have already used blockchain for cross-border payments. Ripple is a prime example of blockchain technology’s effect on cross-border transactions. Its native cryptocurrency, XRP, plays an important role in this. Cryptocurrency can aid faster and cheaper international transactions. Moreover, its worldwide network of financial institutions allows a near-instantaneous settlement.
In the trade finance sector, cross-border payments play an important role. Platforms like Marco Polo have included blockchain payment options in their services.This simplifies and better secures trade financing transactions.
E-commerce platforms also included these payment options, like Bitcoin, to increase global sales. One of the online platforms that accept Bitcoin payments is CheapAir, an online travel agency. Another one is NewEgg, an e-commerce platform for computer parts and consumer electronics.
Future prospects for blockchain payment systems
Blockchain technology is still evolving and more companies will likely adopt blockchain payment systems. The rising need for faster and more secure global payments is expected to drive the broader adoption of blockchain payments.
Among thefuture trends that involve blockchain payments for cross-border transactions is the rise of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). CDBCs are a digital version of national currency that is more efficient for cross-border transactions.
More blockchain-based platforms will emerge and further streamline international trade finance processes. These platforms will facilitate end-to-end trade finance, including documentation, tracking, and payment.
The security for blockchain transactions will continue to develop, as zero-knowledge proofs and advanced encryption are increasingly used.
Partnerships with traditional financial institutions and global payment networks will expand. This can further enhance the accessibility and adoption of blockchain payments.
Blockchain technology has come a long way since its emergence in the mid-2000s. Initially associated only with cryptocurrencies, it is now known as a tool that revolutionises the finance industry.
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In 2024, blockchain has seen transformative growth. According to a Coinbase report, on-chain projects announced by Fortune 100 companies have increased 39 percent from last year. Furthermore, 56 percent of Fortune 500 executives say their companies were working on on-chain projects.
Major actors in financial services are now embracing blockchain technology. From HSBC, IBM, and Nasdaq to JP Morgan, big names are now driving blockchain innovations. Here, this article explores ten blockchain trends expected to dominate the second half of this year.
1. Decentralised finance (DeFi)
A financial disruptor, DeFi enables peer-to-peer financial services without intermediaries such as banks. DeFi services such as Uniswap, Aave, or SushiSwap offer products and services like lending, trading, and asset management, often at competitive rates.
Under a Decentralised Autonomous Organisation (DAO), governance is placed in the hands of token holders. This results in a more inclusive decision-making process.
2. Smart contracts
Smart contracts are computer programmes that automatically execute agreements when predefined conditions are met.
One example of the financial institutions that have experimented with this is BNP Paribas. In 2020, it announced a collaboration with fintech company Digital Asset to design real-time and settlement applications using DAML smart contracts. It has also been involved in pilot projects for trade finance using blockchain.
Other than finance applications, smart contracts are also used in government services, legal industries, and notaries.
3. Cross-border payments
Most cross-border transactions are complicated and costly. Often, they also involve multiple intermediaries and currency conversions.
Blockchain offers a more efficient and cost-effective solution by allowing funds to be transferred directly between individuals and institutions. Blockchain-enabled payments take only a few seconds compared to traditional payments, which may take 3-5 business days.
Companies like Faster Payments Service, Ripple, IBM World Wire, and Strike have already demonstrated successful blockchain-based cross-border payments.
4. Digital identity verification with blockchain
Last year, 3,205 data compromise cases affected 353 million victims in the US. Nearlyall were data breaches, affecting 349 million victims.
Blockchain-based digital identity verification offers a solution to this problem. Personal identity verification protocols like Civic and decentralised identity networks like Sovrin allow users to control their personal information in a way that prevents identity theft and phishing.
Additionally, these platforms simplify and speed up the data verification process, allowing service providers to reduce the time, cost, and resources spent on manual verification.
5. Asset management
Blockchain’s technological capability can reduce the risk of losses when facilitating asset management. Tokenised securities, for instance, allow users to trade digital tokens representing ownership of assets such as stocks, investment funds, and bonds.
An example of this is Paxos Gold (PAXG), an asset-backed digital token with a total market capitalisation of $327 million.
Blockchain also allows for real-time tracking of asset ownership, transactions, and changes throughout the asset lifecycle management.
6. Fraud prevention with blockchain
With blockchain, organisations can permanently track and verify transactions, which makes it a powerful tool against fraud.
Cryptography and encryption techniques help ensure the authenticity and integrity of information, making it difficult to counterfeit. Institutions like Barclays Bank, JP Morgan, and HSBC have already integrated blockchain technology into their payment infrastructures.
7. Supply chain finance
Blockchain-based supply chain finance models are becoming increasingly popular. This is because it allows supply chain partners to share information more easily.
An immutable digital ledger can track all information, from assets to product quality, saving time and money for all parties involved. IBM Food Trust uses this feature in the food supply chain sector. With a permanent, tamper-proof record of every transaction, from farm to table, the technology helps ensure the authenticity and safety of food products.
The Provenance network also uses blockchain to allow consumers to verify the origins and authenticity of products. This system makes sure that product histories are permanently recorded and easily accessible.
8. Blockchain-based trading
This year saw an increasing ownership of digital assets. The global user base for digital currenciesreached 562 million people, a significant increase from 420 million in 2023. Within virtual worlds and the metaverse, trading volumes have only been increasing since the bullish run in 2023.
Blockchains can also be used to trade various assets, such as luxury goods, real estate, and intellectual property rights.
9. Internet of Things (IoT)
Blockchain can connect IoT devices to ensure safety in interactions between devices and networks. This feature opens up new opportunities for financial services such as micropayments and decentralised insurance.
Hyperledger Fabric, for example, acts as a distributed transaction ledger for various IoT transactions, helping keep track of millions of connected devices.
Another ledger, IOTA, is specifically designed for the Internet of Things (IoT). It secures sales and trading data streams to facilitate micropayments between IoT devices without transaction fees.
10. Insurance
Smart contracts built on blockchain technology can protect health records and detect fraudulent claims. Aside from that, its ability to automate claims processes can minimise human interference.
Etherisc is a company that claims to be a pioneer in parametric blockchain insurance, having used the technology since 2016. It is a decentralised insurance protocol built on blockchain technology that has developed solutions like flight delay insurance and crop insurance.
Another example is Insurwave, a blockchain-based platform developed by EY and Guardtime in collaboration with insurers and shipping companies.
The digital landscape is changing day by day. Ideas like the metaverse that once seemed a futuristic fantasy are now…
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The digital landscape is changing day by day. Ideas like the metaverse that once seemed a futuristic fantasy are now coming to fruition and embedding themselves into our daily lives. The thinking might be there, but is our technology really ready to go meta? Domains and hosting provider, Fasthosts, spoke to the experts to find out…
How the metaverse works
The metaverse is best defined as a virtual 3D universe which combines many virtual places. It allows users to meet, collaborate, play games and interact in virtual environments. It’s usually viewed and accessed from the outside as a mixture of virtual reality (VR), (think of someone in their front room wearing a headset and frantically waving nunchucks around) and augmented reality (AR), but it’s so much more than this…
These technologies are just the external entry points to the metaverse and provide the visuals which allow users to explore and interact with the environment within the metaverse.
This is the ‘front-end’ if you like, which is also reinforced by artificial intelligence and 3D reconstruction. These additional technologies help to provide realistic objects in environments, computer-controlled actions and also avatars for games and other metaverse projects.
So, what stands in the way of this fantastical 3D universe? Here are the six key challenges:
Technology
The most important piece of technology, on which the metaverse is based, is the blockchain. The blockchain is essentially a chain of blocks that contain specific information. They’re a combination of computers linked to each other instead of a central server which means that the whole network is decentralised. This provides the infrastructure for the development of metaverse projects, storage of data and also allows them the capability to be compatible with Web3. Web3 is an upgraded version of the internet which will allow integration of virtual and augmented reality into people’s everyday lives.
Sounds like a lot, right? And it involves a great deal of tech that is alien to the vast majority of us. So, is technology a barrier to widespread metaverse adoption?
Jonothan Hunt, Senior Creative Technologist at Wunderman Thompson, says the tech just isn’t there. Yet.
“Technology’s readiness for the mass adoption of the metaverse depends on how you define the metaverse, but if we’re talking about the future vision that the big tech players are sharing, then not yet. The infrastructure that powers the internet and our devices isn’t ready for such experiences. The best we have right now in terms of shared/simulated spaces are generally very expensive and powered entirely in the cloud, such as big computers like the Nvidia Omniverse, cloud streaming, or games. These rely heavily on instancing and localised grouping. Consumer hardware, especially XR, is still not ready for casual daily use and still not really democratised.
“The technology for this will look like an evolution of the systems above, meaning more distributed infrastructure, better access and updated hardware. Web3 also presents a challenge in and of itself, and questions remain over to what extent big tech will adopt it going forward.”
Storage
Blockchain is the ‘back-end’, where the magic happens, if you will. It’s this that will be the key to the development and growth of the metaverse. There are a lot of elements that make up the blockchain and reinforce its benefits and uses such as storage capabilities, data security and smart contracts.
Due to its decentralised nature, the blockchain has far more storage capacity than the centralised storage systems we have in place today. With data on the metaverse being stored in exabytes, the blockchain works by making use of unutilised hard disk space across the network, which avoids users within the metaverse running out of storage space worldwide.
In terms that might be a bit more relatable, an exabyte is a billion gigabytes. That’s a huge amount of storage, and that doesn’t just exist in the cloud – it’s got to go somewhere – and physical storage servers mean land is taken up, and energy is used. Hunt says: “How long’s a piece of string? The whole of the metaverse will one day be housed in servers and data centres, but the amount or size needed to house all of this storage will beentirely dependent on just how mass adopted the metaverse becomes. Big corporations in the space are starting to build huge data centres – such as Meta purchasing a $1.1 billion campus in Toledo, Spain to house their new Meta lab and data centre – but the storage space is not the only concern. These energy-guzzlers need to stay cool! And what about people and brands who need reliable web hosting for events, gaming or even just meeting up with pals across the world, all that information – albeit virtual – still needs a place to go.
“The current rising cost of electricity worldwide could cause problems for the growth of data centres, and the housing of the metaverse as a whole. However, without knowing the true size of its adoption, it is extremely difficult to truly determine the needed usage. Could we one day see an entire island devoted to data centre storage? Purely for the purposes of holding the metaverse? It seems a little ‘1984’, but who knows?”
Identity
Although the blockchain provides instantaneous verification of transactions with identity through digital wallets, our physical form will be represented by avatars that visually reflect who we are, and how we want to be seen.
The founder of Saxo Bank and the chairman of the Concordium Foundation, Lars Seier Christensen, argues, “I think that if you use an underlying blockchain-based solution where ID is required at the entry point, it is actually very simple and automatically available for relevant purposes. It is also very secure and transparent, in that it would link any transactions or interactions where ID is required to a trackable record on the blockchain.”
Once identity is established, it is true that it could potentially become easier to assess creditworthiness of parties for purchasing and borrowing in the metaverse due to the digital identity and storage of each individual’s data and transactions on the blockchain. However, although it sounds exciting, there must be considerations into how it could impact privacy, and how this amount of data will be recorded on the blockchain.
Security
There are also huge security benefits to this set up. The decentralised blockchain helps to eradicate third-party involvement and data breaches, such as theft and file manipulation, thanks to its powerful data processing and use of validation nodes. Both of these are responsible for verifying and recording transactions on the blockchain. This will be reassuring to many, given the widespread concerns around data privacy and user protection in the metaverse.
To access the blockchain all we will need is an internet connection and a device, such as a laptop or smartphone, this is what makes it so great as it will be so readily available. However, to support the blockchain, we’re relying on a whole different set of technologies. Akash Kayar, CEO of web3-focused software development company Leeway Hertz, had this to say on the readiness of the current technology available: “The metaverse is not yet completely mature in terms of development. Tech experts are researching strategies and
testing the various technologies to develop ideas that provide the world with more feasible and intriguing metaverse projects.
“Projects like Decentraland, Axie Infinity, and Sandbox are popular contemporary live metaverse projects. People behind these projects made perfect use of notable metaverse technologies, from blockchain and cryptos to NFTs.
“As envisioned by top tech futurists, many new technologies will empower the metaverse in the future, which will support the development of a range of prolific use cases that will improve the ability of the metaverse towards offering real-life functionalities. In a nutshell, the metaverse is expected to bring extreme opportunities for enterprises and common users. Hence, it will shape the digital future.”
Currency & Payments
Whilst it’s only considered legal tender in two countries, cryptocurrency is currently a reality and there is a strong likelihood that it will eventually be mass adopted. However, the metaverse is arguably not yet at the same maturity level, meaning cryptocurrency may have to wait before it can finally fully take off.
Golden Bitcoin symbol and finance graph screen. Horizontal composition with copy space. Focused image.
There is no doubt that cryptocurrency and the metaverse will go hand-in-hand as the former will become the tender of the latter with many of the current metaverse platforms each wielding its native currency. For example Decentraland uses $MANA for payments and purchases. However, with the volatility of crypto currencies and the recent collapse of trading platform FTX indicating security lapses, we may not yet be ready for the switch to decentralised payments.
Energy
Some of the world’s largest data centres can each contain many tens of thousands of IT devices which require more than 100 megawatts of power capacity – this is enough to power around 80,000 U.S. households (U.S. DOE 2020) and is equivalent to $1.35bn running cost per data centre with the cost of a megawatt hour averaging $150.
According to Nitin Parekh of Hitachi Energy, the amount of power which takes to process Bitcoin is higher than you might expect: “Bitcoin consumes around 110 Terawatt Hours per year. This is around 0.5% of global electricity generation. This estimate considers combined computational power used to mine bitcoin and process transactions.” With this estimate, we can calculate that the annual energy cost of Bitcoin is around $16.5bn.
However, some bigger corporations are slowly moving towards renewable energy to power their projects in this space, with Google signing close to $2bn worth of wind and solar investments in order to power its data centres in the future and become greener. Amazon has also followed in their footsteps and have become the world’s largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy.
They may have plenty of time yet to get their green processes in place, with Mark Zuckerberg recently predicting it will take nearly a decade for the metaverse to be created: “I don’t think it’s really going to be huge until the second half of this decade at the earliest.”
About Fasthosts
Fasthosts has been a leading technology provider since 1999, offering secure UK data centres, 24/7 support and a highly successful reseller channel. Fasthosts provides everything web professionals need to power and manage their online space, including domains, web hosting, business-class email, dedicated servers, and a next-generation cloud platform. For more information, head to www.fasthosts.co.uk
The UK Jurisdiction Taskforce of the Lawtech Delivery Panel, chaired by Sir Geoffrey Vos, Chancellor of the High Court, has…
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The UK
Jurisdiction Taskforce of the Lawtech Delivery Panel, chaired by Sir Geoffrey
Vos, Chancellor of the High Court, has today published its legal statement on
the status of cryptoassets and smart contracts under English and Welsh law.
The landmark statement seeks to address legal uncertainty by recognising cryptoassets as tradable property and smart contracts as enforceable agreements under English law.
Smart contracts can be used to create more secure and more efficient ways of implementing (and automating performance of) contracts between parties. This could revolutionise agreements, from mortgages and medical research to property ownership, as smart contracts automatically execute transactions and remove the need for a middle man.
For example:
smart contracts remove the need for expensive services in property
ownership and could even enable sellers to handle transactions independently.
smart contracts can be applied to mortgage transactions – allowing both
parties to digitally agree to the sale before processing the payment, making
the process more secure and reducing the likelihood of fraud.
Not only will this legal
statement be beneficial for consumers but also for investors. Cryptoassets are already
demonstrating considerable traction, with the top 100 cryptoassets worth a
collective quarter of a trillion dollars.[3]This statement
will provide more certainty to investors in the UK market providing them
with a greater understanding of their legal rights when they trade in
cryptoassets.
The statement will also
provide a dependable foundation for the mainstream adoption of cryptoassets and
smart contracts, in particular offering a strategic boost to startups and
scaleups operating in this space. The UK already has an established Blockchain
ecosystem and community. London is home to more blockchain and crypto meetup
members than San Francisco, Berlin and Seoul[4].
The common law system of England
and Wales makes the UK well-suited to adapting to and dealing with
fast-changing technologies, as well as expertly positioned to provide a sound
legal foundation for their development – with 40% of all arbitration cases
globally applying English and Welsh Law.
The legal statement has been
drafted by Lawrence Akka QC, David Quest QC, Matthew Lavy and Sam Goodman and
supported by members of the UKJT, Linklaters LLP and the respondents to a
public consultation which included businesses, academics and the wider legal
sector.
Chancellor
to the High Court, the Rt Hon Sir Geoffrey Vos, chair of the UKJT, comments: ‘‘I am delighted to welcome the publication by the UK Jurisdiction
Taskforce of a Legal Statement on the Status of Cryptoassets and Smart Contracts.”
‘‘In legal terms, cryptoassets
and smart contracts undoubtedly represent the future. I hope that the Legal
Statement will go a long way towards providing much needed market confidence,
legal certainty and predictability in areas that are of great importance to the
technological and legal communities and to the global financial services
industry.’’
Christina
Blacklaws, Chair of the Lawtech Delivery Panel, comments: “It is excellent to see that English and Welsh law has no issue
embracing new technology – recognising cryptoassets as tradable property and
smart contracts as enforceable. That this work was initiated and powered by the
UKJT is a great example of how the LawTech Delivery Panel can support the
growth of new technology.”
Jenifer
Swallow, Director – Lawtech Delivery Panel, comments: “The worldwide smart contract market is expected to reach $300m by
2023 and the World Economic Forum predicts 10% of global GDP will be stored on
the blockchain by 2027. It is great to see the adaptability of our common law
system to fast-changing technology, demonstrated in this landmark legal
statement from the UKJT. Tech Nation is excited to work with the Lawtech
Delivery Panel on leading initiatives such as this, to support business growth,
clarity in law and the evolution of new tech.”
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has led the successful development of a blockchain-based prototype that enables payments to be…
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The Monetary Authority of
Singapore (MAS) has led the successful development of a blockchain-based
prototype that enables payments to be carried out in different currencies on
the same network.
This prototype network,
developed by MAS in collaboration with J.P. Morgan and Temasek, has the
potential to improve cost efficiencies for businesses.
It is currently undergoing industry testing to determine its ability to integrate with commercial blockchain applications. The applications that were tested successfully will be showcased at the Singapore FinTech Festival and Singapore Week of Innovation and TeCHnology (SFF x SWITCH) 2019, which kicked off on November 11.
This development marks the latest milestone for Project Ubin which is into its fifth phase. Building on the work of Phase 4 of Project Ubin, the payments network will provide interfaces for other blockchain networks to connect and integrate seamlessly.
It will also offer additional
features to support use cases such as Delivery-versus-Payment (DvP) settlement
with private exchanges, conditional payments and escrow for trade, as well as
payment commitments for trade finance.
Beyond technical
experimentation, the fifth phase of Project Ubin sought to determine the
commercial viability and value of the blockchain-based payments network. To
date, MAS and its partners have engaged more than 40 financial and
non-financial firms to explore the potential benefits of the network.
John Hunter, Global Head of Clearing and Interbank Information Network (IIN), J.P. Morgan, said: “J.P. Morgan is excited to be an infrastructure partner of MAS and Temasek for Phase 5 of Project Ubin. By leveraging our key learnings from building the Interbank Information Network® (IIN) and the JPM Coin, J.P. Morgan is well-positioned to support the development of a blockchain-based payments network and operate at scale.”
Chia Song Hwee, President & Chief Operating Officer, Temasek, said: “Blockchain technology has great potential in transforming businesses and opening up new business opportunities.
“To better understand the
impact and value of blockchain technology, we are pleased to have partnered
with MAS and J.P. Morgan for the Ubin platform. The inclusion of non-financial
services companies has demonstrated applicability of blockchain technology beyond
capital markets and trade finance.
“We look forward to deeper
collaboration and support for Singapore’s pioneering efforts in the blockchain
space.”
Accenture has been commissioned
to publish the project report in early 2020. The report will describe the
blockchain use cases that would benefit from a blockchain-based payments
network, and set out additional features that the network could provide.
In addition, the technical
specifications for the connectivity interfaces that were developed will also be
released for public access under Apache License Version 2.0.
Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer, MAS, said, “There is growing evidence now that blockchain-based payments networks are able to enhance cost efficiencies and create new opportunities for businesses.
“We hope
this development will encourage other central banks to conduct similar trials,
and we will make the technical specifications publicly accessible to accelerate
these efforts. We look forward to linking up with more blockchain networks to
improve cross-border connectivity.
“This will
be a big step forward in making cross-border transactions faster, cheaper, and
safer.”
As the world continues to become increasingly digital, it was only a matter of time before it spread to the…
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As the world continues to become increasingly
digital, it was only a matter of time before it spread to the very currency in
our wallets. Just over a decade since the advent of Bitcoin, blockchain (the
very foundation of cryptocurrency) has very much cemented itself as an industry
in itself.
Here, we take a look at 5 of the biggest players in the cryptocurrency market, and the blockchain system they use as ranked by Forbes.
Three new Samsung Galaxy S10, S10e and S10 plus mobile phones.
Arguably one of the biggest companies in the world, driven by a vision to “create a better world full of richer digital experiences, through innovative technology and products”.
Naturally, Samsung has turned its attention to blockchain and works with the Nexledger platform. Available for enterprises all over the world, Nexledger enables enterprise companies to track their transactions with greater speed and efficiency at scale.
One use case for Nexledger is a Digital Payment System, utilising blockchain to support various types of payments in an increasingly cashless world.
Visa
Closeup of VISA credit card with smart chip. VISA is one of the three biggest brands.
In early 2019, the payments giant Visa announced the global launch of its Visa B2B Connect network, a platform designed to transform B2B payments for the digital age.
Developed in response to the growing complexity of payments between financial institutions and their corporate clients, Visa B2B Connect uses blockchain technology architecture that allows payments to be made in a simple, flexible and safe way. Visa B2B Connect will look to cover more than 90 markets by the end of 2019.
The platform will facilitate transactions from the bank of origin directly to the beneficiary bank, creating a unique digital identity formed of banking details and account numbers that can be used to facilitate transactions on the network.
Visa B2B Connect’s digital identity feature has been said that it will “transform the way information is exchanged in business-to-business cross-border transactions”.
Oracle
The Oracle World Headquarters located in Redwood City.
Known for its database and cloud software, Oracle also has its own blockchain software in the Oracle Blockchain Platform.
Described as a “comprehensive distributed ledger cloud platform”, Oracle allows its customers to reliably share data and conduct trusted transactions with suppliers, banks and other trade partners.
The Oracle Blockchain Platform is the only enterprise-grade managed blockchain service with 99.95% SLA with enhanced security and through built-in identity management, it allows rapid provisioning and simplified management of blockchain networks to reduce costs and setup time from weeks to minutes.
Maersk
Pile of Shipping Containers of Maersk at Ballyhoo road at night, Unalaska, Alaska.
In the global logistics industry, tracking shipment and cargo is its bread and butter and so blockchain solutions naturally lend themselves to this space.
Through a partnership between Maersk and IBM, TradeLens was born. TradeLens is an open and neutral industry platform, powered by blockchain, to track shipments in real time, improve and encrypt data sharing for over 10 million shipping events every week.
The TradeLens ecosystem is a treasure trove of some of the biggest organisations the world over, with more than 100 companies including carriers, ports, terminal operators, 3PLs and freight forwarders. These contribute to one of the most powerful supply chain blockchain ecosystems in the world.
HTC
HTC One smartphone
In a world of cashless transactions and data sharing, the mobile phone is the obvious vessel for blockchain deployment. Dubbed as the phone that could “change the internet as we know it”, the HTC Exodus was announced in early 2019.
With a secluded area kept separate from the Android operating system, the blockchain-powered phone is the first mobile phone that can only be bought with cryptocurrency.
Users will have access to Zion, HTC’s very own cryptocurrency wallet. Running decentralized applications and programs that operate on the blockchain technology; HTC Exodus will represent a “new era” of secure data storage and transactions.
In a bid to shift the costs of drugs for patients and hospitals, non-profit organisation, Civica RX, is preparing to…
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In a bid to shift the costs of drugs for patients and hospitals,
non-profit organisation, Civica
RX, is preparing to up-end the supply chain for drug sourcing in the
USA. According to Bloomberg, the company is aiming to address critical drug
shortages by finding the quickest routes to market. Using a three-pronged
approach that includes sourcing from existing drug companies and hiring
contract manufacturers, Civica RX is looking to change the high cost of critical
drugs and increase supplies.
KPMG has released a report that outlines the risks and the hype that
surround the digital supply chain. The report takes a long hard look at the
security threat that comes in alongside digital investment and transformation
and warns that cyber criminals are ‘realising that the shortest way is not
through the front door, but through the “weaker links” that make up a digitally
enabled supply chain’.
Still with KPMG and technology threats, another report released by
both KPMG and Oracle
examines the security gaps that exist in cloud services. The global survey is
designed to provide decision makers with relevant insight into the threats with
commentary from 450 participants.
In Canada, the Supply
Chain Management Association (SCMA) celebrated its 100th anniversary
and used this as an opportunity to announce the beneficiaries of the SCMA
Fellow Award. The prestigious award that recognises excellence in supply chain
leadership was given to Madeleine Paquin, President and CEO of Logistec
Corporation in Montreal, and Robert Wiebe, Chief Administrative Officer for
Loblaw Companies Limited in Toronto.
Data Analyst, Ken Gibson of Black Ink Technologies, examines how blockchain
can play a pivotal role in reducing the increasing complexities of the supply
chain. He points out that ‘supply chains have gotten to be ridiculously
complex…’ and points to the growing need for reliability in management,
administration, sourcing and control.
AP
Møller Mærsk (APMM)’s fourth quarter results
were released on 21 February, revealing a company still busy with its
restructuring. The numbers released were didn’t impress investors, however, and
it seems the company has a way to go before reaching the levels that will
rebuild confidence.
Also in the news: Goldspot
Discoveries, the first AI mining company, has just listed on the TSX
Venture Exchange; the Tri-County
Defense Supply Chain and Business Resource Fair allows for
businesses to connect to government contracting; supply chain integrity
solutions provider, Overhaul
Group, announced that Robert Pocica has joined as a Senior Advisor
to the board of directors; and Gizmodo
wins the headline of the day with ‘Thank god phones are getting weird again’…
