This week, a leading diamond mining company announced that it joined the Tracr diamond blockchain traceability program, which aims to provide consumers with confidence and information about their diamonds and raise the bar for the traceability, authenticity and provenance of diamonds. Also this week, the Canada Border Services Agency announced that it will pilot TradeLens, a blockchain platform for supply chains that enables participants to track import and export data in real time with a secure audit trail, which could reduce transit times and costs by improving visibility and communication. While more than 100 participants have signed on to TradeLens, the platform is reportedly facing challenges attracting other shipping carriers due to concerns related to the terms of engagement, including ownership of intellectual property rights. In related news, a leading enterprise software company recently announced that in early 2019 it will launch a suite of blockchain applications for supply chains that will focus on four specific use cases and offer packaged solutions requiring minimal system integration and customization.
Recently, the world's leading provider of financial transaction messaging services and a voting solutions provider teamed up to demonstrate a blockchain proof of concept for voting built on Hyperledger Fabric. Also this week, a Big Four accounting firm announced the launch of a prototype for the world's first implementation of zero-knowledge proof technology on the public Ethereum blockchain. The technology seeks to enable companies to use the standard, secure infrastructure of the public Ethereum blockchain but keep transactions private. According to a press release, the technology intends to support payment tokens and tokens similar to Ethereum ERC-20 and ERC-721 tokens, with the goal of allowing companies to reduce the costs and resources required to set up their own networks.
Last week, a multinational financial services corporation announced the expected launch date of Q1 2019 for its blockchain-based digital identity system for cross-border payments. The system, which is designed for financial institutions, seeks to allow for quick and secure business-to-business global payments. The system will reportedly utilize tokenization of an organization's sensitive business information (e.g., account numbers and banking details) to produce a unique cryptographic identifier to facilitate transactions. In related news, a Japanese multinational information technology company announced that it has been selected as an application development vendor for a field trial by nine Japanese banks for a blockchain-based interbank settlement system. According to a press release, the proposed solution would utilize the technology firm's peer-to-peer money transfer platform as well as "a digital currency" for interbank settlements. According to reports, in China the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration officially recognized bitcoin as property, thereby allowing bitcoin to be owned and transferred without violating financial regulations. The decision by the court allows merchants to legally accept bitcoin as a form of payment.
To read more about the information covered in this week's post, see the following:
- Canada Border Services Agency to Pilot Blockchain Shipping Solution
- Oracle Unveils Four Blockchain Applications for Supply Chain
- ALROSA Pilots Tracr Platform
- IBM and Maersk Struggle to Sign Partners to Shipping Blockchain
- SWIFT and SLIB Trial Distributed Ledger Voting
- EY Launches the World's First Secure Private Transactions Over the Ethereum Public Blockchain
- Visa Preps Blockchain Digital ID Platform Launch
- Visa Set to Launch Blockchain-Based Digital Identity System With IBM in Q1 2019
- Fujitsu in New, Blockchain-Powered Inter-Bank Settlement System Field Trial
- China's Merchants Are Legally Allowed to Accept Bitcoin and Crypto
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