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Enterprise

China’s Tencent Will Invest 500 Billion Yuan in Blockchain and New Technology Infrastructure

Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings, the owner of China’s messaging platform WeChat has announced that the company will be investing 500 billion yuan ($70 billion) in the next five years in emerging technologies including blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and cybersecurity. Tencent is aiming to strengthen the development of FinTech in China, following the push of accelerating the development of blockchain as stated by the country’s President Xi Jinping.

Sarah Tran

May 27, 2020

| 2 Min Read

#TENCENT #BLOCKCHAIN #CHINA #INVESTMENT #WECHAT #TECHNOLOGY #INFRASTRUCTURE #XI JINPING

Enterprise

Chinese E-Commerce Giant JD.com Launches Enterprise-Level Blockchain-Based Smart Contracts

Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, also known as Jingdong, has successfully launched two enterprise-level applications, including blockchain-based smart contracts, and the protection of commercially confidential information. These two applications were launched on JD’s independently-developed proprietary blockchain, JD Chain. The JD Chain blockchain framework was made open sourced around a year ago, five months after the company launched the JD Blockchain Open Platform enabling companies to use JD’s platform using pre-built APIs. The blockchain protocol has been opened up to allow enterprises to built custom solutions.

Sarah Tran

May 25, 2020

| 3 Min Read

#CHINA #BLOCKCHAIN #JD.COM #TECHNOLOGY #SMART CONTRACTS #SUPPLY CHAIN

CBDC:Asia

Chinese Government to Consider Cross-Border East-Asian Stablecoin for Hong Kong Amid Implementing Controversial National Security Law

Chinese officials to consider a cross-border stablecoin in Hong Kong, to facilitate a cross-border payment network between three Asian countries, and four currencies China, Japan, and South Korea. The world’s second-largest economy is aiming to build Hong Kong into an international financial center in the digital economy era. At China’s annual “Two Sessions,” also known as the National People’s Congress, China’s most important annual political event in Beijing, officials set the decision to impose new national security legislation on Hong Kong.

Sarah Tran

May 22, 2020

| 3 Min Read

#NPC #CHINA #BLOCKCHAIN #TECHNOLOGY #STABLECOIN #CROSS-BORDER #JAPAN #SOUTH KOREA #PAYMENT

Enterprise

IBM Joins Trade Finance Blockchain Platform We.Trade As New Shareholder

IBM has announced a new collaboration with blockchain-based trade finance platform, we.trade to enhance network capabilities and accelerate the global growth of the platform. We.trade was designed to connect buyers, sellers, banks, insurers, and other organizations in a network, simplifying cross-border trading. Built on the latest version of the IBM Blockchain Platform, IBM has been the platform’s technology partner since the beginning. We.trade was also the first enterprise blockchain consortium to go live, back in early 2018.

Sarah Tran

May 21, 2020

| 2 Min Read

#IBM #TRADE FINANCE #TECHNOLOGY #WE.TRADE #BLOCKCHAIN #HSBC #RABOBANK #SANTANDER

CBDC:Europe

Bank of France Becomes the First to Successfully Test Out the Digital Euro on Blockchain

The French Central Bank, Banque de France has recently successfully trialed a central bank digital currency (CBDC) – the digital euro, operating on a blockchain. The Bank of France experimented with the use of a central bank digital currency to test a sale of securities, which was carried out by Société Générale Forge. Banque de France launched a program of experiments to test out potential central bank digital currency (CBDC) aimed for interbank settlements. Potential participants have been invited to submit their applications to experiment with the use of a digital euro.

Sarah Tran

May 21, 2020

| 2 Min Read

#BANK OF FRANCE #BANQUE DE FRANCE #FRENCH CENTRAL BANK #CBDC #EURO #DIGITAL EURO #BLOCKCHAIN #TECHNOLOGY

Enterprise

Japanese E-book Publisher Turns to Blockchain for Distributiion in the Pandemic Era

A Japanese book distributor is mulling an investment in a blockchain-based platform to distribute e-books, as partial lockdowns due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continue in Japan.

Shaurya Malwa

May 18, 2020

| 2 Min Read

#BLOCKCHAIN #JAPAN #E-BOOKS #TECHNOLOGY #CORONAVIRUS #PANDEMIC #COVID19

Technology

Brazil Highlights Blockchain Technology as a Digital Strategy Goal

Last week, Brazil unveiled its Digital Government Strategy that highlighted the use of distributed ledger systems and blockchain technology to transform major parts of the economy, especially in a post-COVID-19 environment.

Shaurya Malwa

May 18, 2020

| 2 Min Read

#BRAZIL #BLOCKCHAIN #DEVELOPMENT #TECHNOLOGY #CORONAVIRUS #COVID19 #PANDEMIC #DLT

Industry

Feds Suspect US Unemployment Systems Attacked by Fraudsters, Leading to Losses in the Hundreds of Millions of Dollars

According to federal authorities in the US, a group of international cybercriminals has been reportedly attacking the US unemployment systems, funneling millions of dollars in payments that were intended to support the detrimental effects the coronavirus pandemic had on the economy. With the number of infections in the US growing at an appalling rate, so far 1.5 million American citizens have been infected, with over 90,000 related deaths. The unemployment crisis in the country has surpassed the rate since the Great Depression, as the official US unemployment rate is at its highest in recorded history, at an alarming 14.7 percent. The New York Times obtained a memo from the US Secret Service, indicating that the fraud scheme was coming from a “well-organized Nigerian fraud ring,” and could result in the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in the American financial system.

Sarah Tran

May 18, 2020

| 4 Min Read

#BLOCKCHAIN #TECHNOLOGY #CRIME #CYBERCRIME #UNITED STATES #UNEMPLOYMENT RATE #US #FEDS

Technology

Plantoids: The Advent of New Blockchain-Based Lifeforms

Plantoids. What are they? Where do they come from? This new art project uses blockchain as a new outlet of artistic expression.

Fernando Sanchez

May 16, 2020

| 4 Min Read

#BLOCKCHAIN #TECHNOLOGY #PLANTOID #TECHNOLOGY

Enterprise

Visa Applies for Blockchain-Based Digital Currency Patent to Potentially Remove Physical Currency

Visa has filed a patent application to create a blockchain-based digital currency on a centralized computer, according to a publication by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The patent was originally filed in November 2019, and was described as “Digital Fiat Currency.” The US dollar was mentioned as one of the fiat currencies to be used potentially, although the patent could also apply to other central bank digital currencies including the pound, yen, and the euro.

Sarah Tran

May 15, 2020

| 2 Min Read

#VISA #PATENT #DIGITAL CURRENCY #BLOCKCHAIN #TECHNOLOGY #DIGITAL DOLLAR #UNITED STATES