AEON and IBM to create a blockchain platform


06/28/2017

AEON financial company and technological giant IBM are developing a financial blockchain-oriented platform for the Asian market.



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Open source blockchain platform, based on Hyperledger Fabric code developed in partnership with IBM Japan, is designed to make financial services more accessible in a number of Asian countries. The new solution will provide an opportunity to carry out crypto-currency payments between companies and individuals, and will also expand possibilities of managing loyalty programs.

"We are working to create a platform that will offer various financial services, such as exchanging digital currencies and points for loyalty, as well as repaying loans not only for customers in Japan, but all over Asia," said AEON CFO Masaaki Mangetsu. "The Masaaki Mangetsu platform will also be used to improve our current financial proposals and create new ones targeted for non-banking populations in Asian countries". 

The Japanese division of IBM will provide AEON with technical assistance in the platform’s development and implementation. The alpha version will be completed in July. "Being an innovative technology, blockchain can make cardinal changes in business processes, making them transparent and more efficient," said representatives of IBM Japan.

This is not IBM's first blockchain project in Asia. Earlier it became known that the largest Japanese bank Mizuho together with the tech company is also developing a blockchain platform for trade finance.

According to representatives of Mizuho, the new technological solution will increase efficiency of supply chains management and settlements for international trade transactions. In particular, distributed registry technology will make the use of digitized trade finance tools more transparent, faster and safer.

As representatives of both companies specified, not only this approach will accelerate implementation of trade operations and optimize the supply chain, but will also help to increase the level of trust between counterparties.

The United Kingdom, meanwhile, is trying to decide how to deal with the crypto currency. British bank Barclays is discussing with regulators and fintech companies the question of how to introduce crypto-currencies into the game, CNBC reports with reference to the chief executive officer of Barclays UK.

Chief Executive Officer of Barclays UK Ashok Vaswani said that the bank's representatives met with employees of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to discuss the issue of how to remove bitcoin from the gray zone and make its use safe.

"We spoke to several fintech companies, and, together with them, went to the FCA to talk about how, in principle, it is possible to introduce crypto-currencies into the game. Obviously, this is a new sphere with which we have to be careful, but we are working in this direction," said Barclays’ top manager.

Vaswani did not share details on exactly what plans the bank has for bitcoin. In recent years, the bank has been actively involved in the sphere of crypto-currency and blockchain technology. Last year, Barclays joined forces with the American Bitcoin-startup Circle to launch a social payment application that allows you to send money by converting pounds sterling into a crypto currency.

This is the first time in history when any European bank has allowed a company engaged in the digital currency industry to tap into its infrastructure. Often, some banks are very cautious about making their organizations somehow associated with bitcoin. It's all about the crypto currency's not quite pure reputation: it's known that the money is used to sell weapons, hacker's software, drugs in the Dark web-shadow online market. Dark web is a specialized group of sites, where identity of each user is hidden from power, trackers and law enforcement.

However, despite the tarnished reputation, bitcoin reaches record highs, although in recent days the price has fallen slightly, and volatility remains. Therefore, regulators are showing interest in bitcoin, feeling that it is better to timely establish the ground rules than to find themselves in a situation of lost profit and an uncontrolled situation.

source: cryptocoinsnews.com