NTT Data, Japan's largest IT services firm, has announced a new blockchain consortium; 13 participating members including three of Japan's megabanks: the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Mizuho and the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation; other notable participants represent industries such as insurance, logistics, and import and export trade; the consortium's objectives include exploring the lead up to and validation of the feasibility of blockchain applications; the consortium will be officially launched on August 30 and expected to last until March 2018. Source
In an opinion piece on American Banker, General Counsel of US Century Bank argues that community banks could gain a lot from using blockchain technology; unlike big banks they don't have resources to test ideas and spend millions of dollars; pooling their resources or joining a consortium would be the best way forward to begin to test usages of the technology; engaging with the big four bank vendors is another idea; FIS, Fiserv, Jack Henry and D+H provide the core banking software at most banks and ensuring a dialogue with them is crucial; increased efficiency can help community banks stay competitive in an environment that is becoming more crowded by the day. Source
Dorsey was recently interviewed at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View; Dorsey is bullish on the future of blockchain describing it as the "next big unlock"; believes that people need to be thoughtful in the applications of blockchain, focusing on what are the best applications of the technology; also discusses bitcoin and how it is beginning to reach more people. Source
The Confidential Consortium framework called Coco is an ethereum-based protocol that organizations can use to process information on the ethereum blockchain; Microsoft Azure's CTO says it can help enterprises scale their operations securely; explaining the benefits of the technology, Coco user, Tom Racette, vice president at Mojix, said: "Being able to run our existing supply chain Dapp code much faster within Coco framework is a great performance improvement that will reduce friction when we talk about enterprise blockchain readiness with our retail customers. Adding data confidentiality support without sacrificing this improvement is what will enable us to lead the digital transformation we are envisioning with smart supply chains." Source
Join LendIt for a webinar about blockchain technology and how it can streamline operations for wealth managers and insurance back office operations; register here for the August 14 webinar at 2:00 PM EST; presenters include Jayant Khadilkar, global head of analytics and technology at Tiger Risk, and Ryan Rugg, business development at R3. Source
In speaking to CoinDesk, AngelList CEO Naval Ravikant said he is looking to fund a blockchain alternative to Twitter; he explained that the prize will be awarded to anyone who can build a Twitter alternative and where people can monetize the contributions; this is part of a program that will help developers who are looking to build applications on the Blockstack platform; Naval tells CoinDesk, "I am indeed helping the Blockstack team and will be donating a small prize for a decentralized microblogging service." Source
Bank of America has filed over 20 blockchain and cryptocurrency-related patent applications since 2014; recent applications include the use of blockchain as a distributed database supporting the flow of certain actions; other patents involve the control of data, information verification, peer-to-peer payments and the protection of a generic cryptocurrency. Source
Blockchain is causing rapid changes across all industries and specifically financial services; Forbes talks with Da Hongfei, co-founder of blockchain group NEO, about the firm's innovative offerings; it is currently focused on smart contracts which can track the entire process of a contract with transparency and automated alerts for all parties involved; NEO also has a cryptocurrency token that is among the top 10 cryptocurrencies with a market cap of more than $1.4 billion; Forbes also discusses cross border transactions and fraud prevention where NEO is also incorporating digital identity solutions. Source
Join LendIt on Monday, August 14 at 2:00 PM EST for a webinar about blockchain technology and insurance; the webinar will discuss how blockchain can streamline operations for wealth managers and insurance back office operations; presenters include Jayant Khadilkar, global head of analytics and technology at Tiger Risk, and Ryan Rugg, business development at R3. Source
ETHLend will issue LEND tokens in a pre-sale and official token sale; the pre-sale is scheduled for September 25 to October 25 with a goal of 2,000 ETH; the official sale will begin November 25 and last through December 9 with a goal of 37,600 ETH; ETHLend is developing a decentralized peer-to-peer lending application built on the Ethereum Network; it allows for increased transparency and global lending with services for collateral, decentralized credit ratings and management of exchange volatility risks. Source