"Orebits Corp. has created a new asset class, enabled by Symbiont's distributed ledger technology, which will change the precious metals financing marketplace forever," says Scott Mehlman, CEO of Orebits Corp.; through support from Symbiont's blockchain technology, Orebits will offer clients digitized "smart certificates" called "orebits" that are tied to gold reserves setting up a new form of gold trading; additionally the exchange for the new gold orebits will operate based on a peer-to-peer structure; Symbiont reports that the innovation has created a completely new trading alternative for investors to gain exposure to gold and Orebits says the exchange will operate without margins, storage and insurance, creating a considerable advantage over other current methods for investing in gold. Source
FnConn launched Chained Finance at LendIt USA 2017; the platform is built with blockchain technology and is intended to provide alternative loans for supply chain companies; Jack Lee, CEO of FnConn, says the platform has the potential to help improve supply chain finance in a number of ways specifically through greater cost efficiency from the use of blockchain; Chained Finance will be fueled through the support of FnConn's financial subsidiary Foxconn and P2P lender Dianrong. Source
Alex Tapscott took the stage on day two of LendIt USA to begin the day with a discussion on how blockchain can help financial services; blockchain technology has the potential to recreate the infrastructure that the financial services industry was built upon and consumers and banks appear to be onboard with the use of the new technology; however its implementation is far from ready and Tapscott says will not be a reality for at least another three to four years. Source
The B3i blockchain insurance consortium was founded in October 2016 to focus on blockchain-based solutions for the insurance industry; it began with five companies and has now announced the addition of 10 new members; overall members of the consortium believe the technology has the potential to streamline paperwork and reconciliations, accelerate information and money flow, and significantly improve auditability; the consortium was created to develop a common set of standards and procedures around these initiatives; B3i plans to release an initial report on its research by June 2017. Source
Automotive parts manufacturer Wanxiang Group has been actively investing in China and is the country's largest blockchain investor; Wanxiang Group recently committed $30 million to a smart cities initiative and is now planning a blockchain accelerator 'Chainbase Accelerator' with four startups involved in the program; Chainbase Accelerator will focus on blockchain initiatives for next-generation energy delivery, digital currency and smart governance; Wanxiang has also reported that it will begin to reveal plans for its smart city which will result in an innovative global platform for businesses. Source
Nearshore Systems announced two online lending platform development partnerships at LendIt USA 2017; the software engineering firm was chosen by Dianrong to support the efforts of the firm's new blockchain-based solution; Nearshore was also selected by US-based Hijro to support the development of the firm's trade finance platform built on distributed ledger technology. Source
Google's artificial intelligence unit, DeepMind, is using blockchain technology to build an auditing system for analyzing and storing healthcare data; the system will mainly focus on tracking all of a person's hospital health data and centrally storing it for access and ownership by individuals; DeepMind will also make its system available through open source software allowing for the technology to be utilized for broader solutions including auditing identities, financial records and private corporate data. Source
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has reported successful use of blockchain in inter-bank payments; the MAS blockchain inter-bank payments project began in November 2016 and was tested in partnership with R3 and a consortium of financial institutions; Deloitte will provide a report on all aspects of the project and its successes; MAS has reported a continuation of blockchain testing, next in fixed income securities trading and settlement at the Singapore Exchange and also in cross border payments using central bank digital currency; the country's active role in blockchain technology testing is also likely to influence the UNCITRAL Working Group IV which meets in April and is leading initiatives around a legal framework for cross border transactions which is likely to be based on blockchain technology. Source
National Australia Bank's (NAB) venture capital business, NAB Ventures has joined in an investment round raising $24 million for Veem, a foreign exchange startup business; Veem provides business to business cross border payment services with blockchain technology; NAB and NAB Ventures have been actively involved in technology investments also investing in Data Republic, Medipass Solutions and Localz; Australia is also taking a lead role in developing blockchain standards globally; it is active in the development of blockchain standards through the ISO/TC 307 and will host the first international blockchain standards meeting for ISO/TC 307. Source
IBM and Maersk have completed a successful blockchain solution project for the container supply chain industry; plan to expand the solution to 10 million of the 70 million containers shipped annually; solution could provide cost savings for ship carriers of $38 billion per year. Source