The Celo Foundation has announced they have signed up 50 founding members for the Alliance for Prosperity; the new crypto...
Chain CEO Adam Ludwin sat with Business Insider to talk about blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies; the interview goes through the basics of what blockchain technology is and how it has been viewed by the wider market in recent years; the hype around the technology has made many believe it can transform anything and everything; in reality, Adam says, it is a tool that should be applied where relevant; they also explore the differences in selling into an institution and how the technology is used in bitcoin transactions. Source.
Considered part of the 'Big Four' banks in China, the China Construction Bank (CCB) is looking to launch a banking and insurance blockchain product; their hoping to use their new bancassurance product in Q3 to sell third-party insurance products on the distributed ledger as CoinDesk reports; they are using the IBM blockchain and have been testing the products for months. Source.
This week’s WeiyangX’s Fintech Review in Crowdfund Insider covers a Reform plan by China to combine the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) & the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) into one entity; Ant Financial struck an agreement with Pakistan’s Telenor Group to acquire 45 percent of Telenor Microcredit Bank for more than $184mn; JD Finance is raising more than $2bn for license acquisition, research and marketing; China is also looking to establish a standardization committee for uses of blockchain technology. Source.
According to a paper by the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) blockchain technology should be adopted by China’s secondary loan market; as CoinDesk reports the paper came out of a trip made by the regulator to their counterparts in the UK and France; European banks are putting together a program to test blockchain technology for the issuance of syndicated loans; the CBRC also considers blockchain technology to potentially be helpful for automating compliance. Source.
The Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), J. Christopher Giancarlo, told government technology executives at an event that blockchain technology is in our national interest; Coindesk reports that the chairman said, "Distributed ledger and blockchain technologies ... are going to challenge orthodoxies that are foundational to our financial infrastructure."; he also discussed agencies moving beyond just talk of implementation but to actually try to use the tech within their agency's. Source.
The China Banking Association is launching a blockchain-based program aimed at improving the efficiency and security of trade finance transactions;...
Data collected by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (Wipo) showed that China applied for more than half of the 406 blockchain patent applications; patents specific to cryptocurrencies rose by 16 percent in 2017 to 602 overall, cryptocurrency patents are not included in the blockchain category; 6 of the top 9 patent filers from 2012 to 2017 were China based companies. Source.
Tencent has reported plans in a white paper for the development of a blockchain platform; the firm says it plans to use the platform for offering digital asset management, authentication and shared economies, among other services; the firm also says the platform will help it to collaborate with other firms; in its white paper, Tencent also advocates for blockchain development and government integration in China. Source
Actively monitoring fintech in the country, a group of Chinese government agencies has released a white paper on blockchain; similar to other countries, China is investigating ways to utilize blockchain technology in its banking system; the white paper says the country is seeking to define standards by October 2017; speculators think China could be the first central bank to begin utilizing the technology. Source