Week Ending October 21,2016

Red Chalk Group banking, blockchain, David Uhryniak, distributed ledgers, Emirates NBD, insurance, Mercuria, proof of concept, Raymond Zenkich, Red Chalk Group, technology, trade finance, trading, UAE, Umair Hussein, use case

Three things to know

Once again there is another full week of Blockchain news from around the world. Global financial institutions are accelerating Blockchain application and new consortiums are being formed to develop Blockchain. Outside of financial services, Blockchain is being put to use in energy, entertainment, and the military. This week our focus is on the new consortium being formed by global insurers, money transfer in the UAE, and application to commodities trading.

Starting in Munich, five insurers have joined forces to launch B3i, or the Blockchain Insurance Industry Initiative. Aegon, Allianz, Munich Re, Swiss Re, and Zurich believe Blockchain can enable digital contracts and multiple-party transactions to be done with greater transparency, more secure, and with a verifiable audit trail. To this point, insurance has generally lagged banks in developing Blockchain. Perhaps consortiums such as this can accelerate development throughout the industry.

In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the bank Emirates NBD is piloting Blockchain with ICIC Bank in India to facilitate trade finance. The pilot is testing the potential for Blockchain to automate inter-bank processes and provide secure document transfer. Numerous times in the past month, I have talked to people who believe trade finance is among the functions that is most suitable for Blockchain. We should expect to see more announcements of trade finance pilot programs in the coming months.

Jumping to Switzerland, Mercuria, one of the world’s largest commodity traders believes Blockchain can be applied to reduce the costs of oil trading by 30.0%. CEO Marco Dunand believes the oil trading market can shift to Blockchain payments within the next 12 months. In my view, 12 months is a very aggressive time frame, but Mercuria has the resources and the will to make it happen.

Each week more initiatives are announced. Some in the industry have referred to 2016 as the “year of the proof of concept”, a description that seems appropriate. They also refer to 2017 as the year of live applications. So far, both descriptions appear to be accurate.

Insurers and reinsurers launch Blockchain initiative B3i

European Insurance Firms Launch New Blockchain Consortium

Emirates NBD pilots blockchain-based money transfers

Mercuria Chief: Blockchain Could Cut Oil Market Costs by 30%

Weekly Blockchain

Financial Services
Can Blockchain Save Banking?

Dun & Bradstreet Tests Blockchain for Trade Finance

Firms led by JPMorgan test blockchain-powered equity swaps post-trade

Banks adopt blockchain for mortgage valuation system

Blockchain Trade Group Adds First Credit Union Member

Blockchain Exchange and Wallet Lykke Raised $1 Million at ICO

Blockchain Biometrics Startup Raises $3 Million in New Funding