#blockchain

Gartner gave blockchain a huge pat on its back when it included this technology in its Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2017. But will it be smooth sailing from here on? We invited Brian Behlendorf, Executive Director of the Hyperledger Project to talk about the project’s most important accomplishments and how countless industries can benefit from blockchain’s use.

Credit Suisse believes that Blockchain is a more powerful potential disruptor than bitcoin. The global financial services company claims that there are at least five potential uses for the technology behind bitcoin.

IBM revealed in its most recent survey that nine in 10 government executives plan to make blockchain investments by next year. Furthermore, seven in ten government executives predict blockchain will significantly disrupt the area of contract management.

Bosch has joined forces with Cisco, Bank of New York Mellon, and a few other companies to put the technology behind Bitcoin to good use — the aim of the newly founded consortium is to improve IoT applications with the help of blockchain.

A new report by Accenture suggests that the technology behind Bitcoin could help investment banks slash costs by up to $12 billion per year by 2025.

The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation, a firm which offers back-end trading services to countless Wall Street companies, announced plans to replace one of its central databases with a distributed ledger technology (DLT) framework. The project will not use Bitcoin’s blockchain —instead, it is building a distributed ledger which will be open exclusively to invited parties.

Blockchain adoption is gaining momentum not only in banking but also in the enterprise. The first sign that 2016 was going to be a good year for blockchain was the amount of money invested into blockchain companies: almost $300 million in the first half of 2016. The second sign was that blockchain consortia began to spring up like mushrooms after the rain. But will it be smooth sailing from here on?

IBM is actively trying to lure developers into the blockchain world. The giant believes that blockchain “has the potential to transform the way industries conduct business transactions” but that can only happen if industry players work together and allow businesses to benefit from the network effect of this technology.

Bitcoin Black Friday is fast approaching — Bitcoin enthusiasts will soon have the chance to buy all sorts of things with this cryptocurrency including video games, web hosting, computers etc. We talked to the founder of Bitcoin Black Friday, Jon Holmquist, about his quest to provide a foil to Bitcoin’s negative brand image and the evolution of this cryptocurrency.

Gartner gave blockchain a huge pat on its back when it included this technology in its Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2017. But what about bitcoin? Who has its back? The answer is Vulcan Digital Asset Services, a joint effort by PwC, Libra, Bloq and Netki.

A few months ago, the World Economic Forum claimed in a report that blockchain can become the future of FinTech. After a plethora of banks decided to give blockchain a chance, it’s IT companies’ turn to become blockchain believers.

Who said one cannot mix blockchain with Ethereum? Mega-bank JP Morgan is developing a blockchain onto Ethereum which would enable it to make use of a publicly available system for private transactions. In short, Quorum is trying to bring together two imperfect concepts and solve the problems that prevent them from truly going mainstream.

The blockchain technology is the perfect recipe for disruption. If only the FinTechs and banks learned to play nice. A new report sheds some light on blockchain’s limitations and points out that this technology is not “a magic potion for everything.” Learn all about the obstacles that prevent the blockchain technology from being implemented across all industries.

September saw the launch of the Blockchain Alliance for Good (Bisgit.IoV) – a free membership organization aimed at boosting the usage of blockchain technology to generate good social and environmental solutions. The Alliance unites blockchain enthusiasts from around the world and provides them with a springboard for “good” innovations. We talked to Barbara Mellish, president of Blockchain Alliance for Good, about the future of blockchain, the industries where blockchain activity may flourish and the need to revolutionize this technology.