News about Financial Institutions in Crypto Industry
The BBVA and Banco Santander have joined the E.U. International Association for Trusted Blockchain Applications (IATBA) aimed at the development of blockchain regulation and applications. The IATBA is to be launched in 2019. The project initiative was introduced by the European Blockchain Partnership. The two banks were among those invited to join the initiative.
The Central Bank of Peru has recently published a warning to the public via Twitter account regarding the volatility of cryptocurrency. In the announcement, the Central Bank explained, “Cryptocurrencies are not supported by central banks and pose risks due to the high volatility in their price, fraud cases and their possible use in illicit activities.”
A local press has reported that the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) is not planning to introduce their own cryptocurrency. According to the report, the Central Bank Chairman of the country also highlighted previously that the cryptocurrency is often utilized for money laundering purposes. Although CBA has made it clear regarding cryptocurrency issuance, it has expressed interest about the blockchain.
The subsidiary of Raiffeisen Bank International has associated with Gazprom Neft for issuing bank guarantee on the blockchain. It was issued for the conduct of finance transaction covering four parties Raiffeisen, Gazprom Neft, Mozyr Oil Refinery, and Priorbank of Belarus. The chief of documentary transactions and trade finance, Raiffeisen, declared, “All parties were fully connected to the platform.”
The chief of International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, has expressed that the central banks could release their cryptocurrency. Addressing a conference in Singapore, the chief mentioned, “I believe we should consider the possibility to issue digital currency. There may be a role for the state to supply money to the digital economy.”
A new patent for enterprise-level cryptocurrency storage system has been recently awarded to the Bank of America (BoA) by the US Patent and Trademark Office. The patent file by the BoA has elaborated, “As technology advances, financial transactions involving cryptocurrency have become more common. For some enterprises, it may be desirable to aggregate cryptocurrency deposited by customers.”
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization’s Data61 division and Commonwealth Bank of Australia declared the successful trial of a blockchain application for smart money. A CommBank official expressed, “We’re excited by the potential to enable NDIS participants to exercise greater choice and control over their disability support services, while streamlining budget management and removing the need for paperwork.”
As an effort in escaping the economic sanctions imposed by the United States, Iran exposed plans in developing their own national cryptocurrency that has been announced to reach its final stage. The CEO of ISC, Seyyed Abotaleb Najafi did not disclose the launch date but made it clear that the cryptocurrency is waiting for the approval from the CBI.
A partnership has been recently established between Mitsubishi UFG (MUFG) and Bradesco focusing on cross-border payment service powered by Ripple’s blockchain technology. The new payment system will be offering a fast, transparent and traceable remittance service solution between Japan and Brazil which will contribute to business growth.
The JP Morgan Chase has spotted entities whose stock would benefit from the adoption of the blockchain technology. The Software equity research analyst at JP Morgan, Sterling Auty stated, “Utilizing blockchain to manage the entire mortgage process could bring trust among parties and use of smart contracts could help automate various tasks.”
