Longfin is a micro-cap company that is listed on the Nasdaq; the company offers foreign exchange as well as financing to small businesses; recently they acquired micro lender Ziddu.com which provides smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain; now the company is looking to make contracts available for p2p lending, warehouse finance, structured products and FX or OTC derivatives. Source
Netherlands invoice finance startup Finturi has closed $2.2 million in funding to help companies secure loans against invoices using blockchain and...
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is considering creating standards to boost blockchain development; the China Electronics Standardization Institute wants to help form a committee surrounding the issue and try to keep the country ahead of the curve; China has also participated in international efforts on blockchain technology focused on authentication and smart contracts. Source.
Smart contract technology, although essential to the digitalization of financial platforms, does not come without challenges.