Under a New South Wales state government directive, applying to the start of the 2019 financial year, all mainstream property transactions must be lodged electronically using a blockchain-based eConveyancing system, and all paper-based Certificates of Title will be cancelled.

Show full article

Australian data security company Secure Logic is launching a blockchain solution to support the digitisation of government services, including motor registration, birth and death certificates, medical records, and property titles. New South Wales is using the platform in its trial of a digital drivers licence.

Show full article

5 persistent myths about blockchain, and why they are false. The myths are: Blockchain, bitcoin, and distributed ledgers are the same thing; Blockchain is a hotbed of illegal activity; Blockchain will solve every business problem; Blockchain technology is immutable and unhackable; All blockchains are open.

Show full article

Several major global banks and trading firms are using blockchain to trade commodities like oil and wheat. The platform will be launched by a new venture named komgo SA, and is set to go live late in 2018.

Show full article

Walmart is asking all its leafy greens suppliers to get on blockchain by October 2019. With instances of E. coli on the rise, using a blockchain to track and trace products from source to customer will enable diseased produce to be identified and destroyed.

Show full article

The world’s first public bond created and managed using only blockchain had support from seven investors, with lead manager the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. It raised $80.48 million for the World Bank.

Show full article

Blockchain is now being used to make businesses as varied as trade finance, video-gaming, travel insurance, and diamond mining more efficient and more secure. Projects that actually solve real-world problems are rare. The technology is growing largely through consortiums that allow companies to share the cost of developing software and make sure they’re building systems that will be compatible with one another. Gartner estimates that blockchain will generate $5 billion worth of business value in 2018, exceeding $3.1 trillion in 2030.

Show full article

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has successfully completed a global trade experiment, shipping 17 tons of almonds to Germany, tracked via blockchain.

Show full article

Dubai is making the first blockchain of the court to streamline the judicial process, removing document duplications, and driving greater efficiencies across the entire legal ecosystem by 2020. They will also expand existing dispute resolution services, and explore how to aid verification of court judgments for cross-border enforcement.

Show full article

IBM and New York-based cash settlement firm CLS have teamed up with major banks to launch a blockchain-based platform to provide financial services, including KYC processes, sanctions screening, collateral management, derivatives post-trade processing and reconciliation, and market data.

Show full article

KT (Korea Telecom) has applied blockchain technology to its network, planning to reach 100,000 transactions per second by 2019, and to launch many new platforms in multiple industries that capitalise on the network. KT has also applied blockchain for authentication in internet access.

Show full article

Six categories of applications using blockchain technology: Smart contracts; Tokenization of content; Eliminating counterfeit products; Supply chain improvement; Digital twins; Encrypted messaging.

Show full article

A series of cross-border financial trades were completed through a jointly developed blockchain platform by a group of European banks (Deutsche Bank, HSBC, KBC, Natixis, Nordea, Rabobank, Santander, Société Générale and UniCredit) over five days between 10 companies.

Show full article

A wide selection of Blockchain startups.

Show full article

The growing use of private solar cells and heat pumps is creating a new decentralized energy system, where everyone can produce and sell energy through a blockchain network. 5% of the world’s energy transactions already do this, and the World Energy Council expects this to rise to 25% before 2025.

Show full article

A general overview of blockchain: Definition; Applicability; Concepts; Analysts outlook; Market size. Surveys; Landscape; Issues; Outlook; References. Many enterprises will get re-tooled, and new business models will emerge – but not overnight.

Show full article

Smart contracts are self-executing programs that automatically check the rules of a transaction, verify and process it, and, if needed, enforce the obligations of the parties. This has the potential to dramatically increase productivity and lower costs. Several use case examples are given.

Show full article

An opinion piece of the various blockchain governance models, and why a democratic model is not right – yet.

Show full article

Diamond giant De Beers has successfully tested Tracr, their new platform that uses blockchain technology to source and tracks diamonds throughout the supply chain. Other diamond companies have joined the effort, and the platform will be made available to all diamond companies by the end of 2018.

Show full article

Goodr has created a system that has diverted nearly a million pounds of food in Atlanta from landfills–and into kitchens. Surplus food is redirected from businesses to nonprofits which share it with needy families. Goodr’s app has clients signaling the availability of surplus food, which is picked up, packaged, and delivered to nonprofits, with all steps recorded on a blockchain.

Show full article

The Bank of England said that it’s currently working on a “proof of concept” to see if its real-time gross settlement service will benefit from blockchain. The bank’s governor, Mark Carney, said that securities settlements need innovation, and blockchain technology – aka distributed ledger tech – could produce “significant” gains regarding platform stability, efficiency, accuracy, and security.

Show full article

Big organizations using blockchain include Walmart, L.L.Bean, and Codec, with many new startups in the process, including Dubai’s government. Walmart is tracking beef products across China, reducing tracking time from weeks to days. In medicine, complete medical records will be added to the blockchain.

Show full article

Santander, a major Spanish bank, has launched an international money transfer service, using California-based Ripple’s distributed ledger technology (but not its XRP cryptocurrency). The service is supposed to be cheaper and faster than existing systems and will provide more certainty about when the money will arrive. It’s currently available for retail customers in Spain, UK, Brazil, and Poland and will roll out in other countries soon. Transfers to Europe can be made on the same day and the bank is targeting instant payments by the summer. The service uses touch and facial identification and connects with Apple Pay.

Show full article

Hacking is the world’s fastest-growing criminal enterprise, costing the global economy $450 billion in 2016. Applying blockchain technology to various encryption, cybersecurity, and digital identification activities could help end many hacking schemes. Illinois is piloting a blockchain-based system for recording birth certificates. 63% of other US States are considering how to implement blockchain.

Show full article

Alibaba is trialing a blockchain platform for supply chain tracking to counter the spread of counterfeit food and health products. The new pilot program will track international shipments to China from an Australian healthcare supplier and a New Zealand dairy product maker.

Show full article

IBM is collaborating with international jewelry industry leaders to create a cross-industry supply chain tracking platform. Powered by a permission blockchain, the initiative will facilitate the tracking of diamonds and precious metals as they advance from mine to market.

Show full article

Several trade finance distributes ledger technology platforms currently under development were initiated by banks, and are designed to satisfy clients’ need for a leaner, faster process for securing and financing international trade transactions.

Show full article

ANZ bank has partnered with IBM to build a blockchain solution for transparent, secure transfer of data and premiums between insurance brokers and insurers.

Show full article

1st Gen: Bitcoin and variants using Proof of Work algorithm to validate transactions.
2nd Gen: Ethereum, NEO, WAVES, etc, with smart contracts and easy tokenization of assets.
3rd Gen: Cardano, etc. solving problems of scalability, speed, and energy efficiency by using Proof of Stake validation and off-chain routing.
4th Gen: Multiversum making the blockchain environment flexible and economical for the enterprise, industrial and institutional use, and safe for consumers. Features include complex data types, multidimensional structures, data sharding, chain splitting and Proof of Integrity validation.

Show full article

As increasingly legislation involves reference to blockchain technology, there is a need for an accepted definition of what features are integral to it. The ISO is trying to get international agreement.

Show full article

February 20, 2018: Through a pilot program between the city of South Burlington, Vermont and a San Francisco-based start-up, Propy, developer of a blockchain platform designed to facilitate real estate transactions, Katherine Purcell became the first person in the U.S. to sell a home using blockchain. Propy allows anyone to buy or sell real estate, anywhere, completely online. Their blockchain records each step in the transaction, from expressing interest in a property to signing agreements to title transfers. There’s an immutable record of every action on a virtually unhackable ledger. Propy will eventually completely replace the city’s software for managing land records.

Show full article

IBM is making big bets on blockchain—the technology behind virtual currencies. It has formed a joint venture with Maersk, the world’s biggest container operator, in January in hopes of accelerating trade, and with Walmart and a group of consumer companies to explore how to apply the technology to food safety.

Show full article

IBM and Danish transport and logistics company Maersk are creating a shipping and supply chain company to commercialize Blockchain for all aspects of the global supply chain system, from shipping to ports, and banks to customs offices. Delivery is expected for 3Q2018.

Show full article

Seoul plans to apply blockchain in municipal duties that actively collect private information of citizens. It will apply blockchain to all administrative duties by 2022, including public transportation, social security, and public safety. The goal is to increase citizen convenience and increase transparency.

Show full article

Ethereum’s first Blockchain application is by SingularDTV: Project creation and rights management for the entertainment industry. SingularDTV is releasing 3 application categories (development, production, distribution) designed to empower artists and creators to become their own economies, eliminating entertainment industry gatekeepers and intermediaries.

Show full article

American Express added B2B blockchain payments for faster transfers and added security for US businesses sending money to businesses banking with Santander UK. By using blockchain, the payments are instant, trackable, and don’t require a credit card.

Show full article

HPE has announced its first Blockchain as a Service (‘BAAS’) solution to help businesses deploy the distributed ledger technology quickly and easily. It will be available in early 2018. Gartner estimates that the business value-add of blockchain is expected to grow to >$176 billion by 2025, and to exceed $3.1 trillion by 2030. Blockchain solutions have a wide range of potential applications across industries, including finance, retail and manufacturing, healthcare, and government. Other companies offering BAAS include Oracle and Microsoft.

Show full article

A new IBM blockchain solution will allow financial institutions to process global payments faster and cost-effectively. Modernizing the global payments process and improving financial access could improve international commerce, and extend financial services to one billion people by 2020, according to the World Bank. This marks another move by IBM using blockchain technology, and IT leaders across all industries will need to understand it.

Show full article

Blockchain technology provides a public ledger that’s very difficult to falsify, providing accountability in many business areas, including:
Stocks (easing the funding of companies)
Shipping (tracking cargo to reduce tampering with labels and speed up shipping times)
Diamonds (recording identifying features, clarifying ownership)
Livestock (tracking livestock, reducing food spoilage, fighting disease)
Law (Creating smart contracts that execute themselves without lawyers)

Show full article

Microsoft is working with Israel’s Bank Hapoalim on a system that uses blockchain technology to manage digital bank guarantees. Microsoft is also using its blockchain-based Azure cloud computing platform for a recent proof-of-concept trial with shipping giant Maersk for sharing marine insurance data, to collaborate with Accenture for an ID system that could register refugees, and with Bank of America to test a system to log financial transactions.

Show full article

Australian energy retailer Origin has partnered with Perth-based blockchain startup Power Ledger to trial an energy sharing platform that uses blockchain technology to create an immutable record of energy generation and consumption. The trial will investigate the viability of consumers buying and selling energy to and from their neighbors.

Show full article