Blockchain

The startup is betting that a venture offering safe storage of digital assets will entice billions from banks and other institutional investors.

Michael Lewis calls it a "pump-and-dump" scheme. Liz Ann Sonders says it's "the next kale." Should clients invest in cryptocurrencies?

The federal banking regulators should create a working group that, rather than propose new rules and regulations, would clarify the application of existing rules to blockchain technology.

PayStand, a blockchain business-to-business payments platform, has completed a $6 million funding round through BlueRun Ventures.

Brian Behlendorf, leader of the Linux Foundation's effort to establish standards for blockchain, likens the invention of cryptocurrencies to the moon launch and says banks, open-source developers and others are working to make the underlying technology commercially viable.

Canada's payments modernization initiative is using a distributed ledger to expedite processing across a nationwide network, providing scale that could open the technology to wider use elsewhere if successful.

The advent of blockchain technology may prove to be disruptive to traditional credit reporting agencies by decentralizing data aggregation and allowing consumers to take ownership of their data through a personalized wallet they could share with prospective lenders, writes Alexander Koles, CEO, founder and managing director of Evolve Capital Partners.

Beyond the initial coin offerings — a fundraising process, similar to an IPO, in which blockchain companies sell crypto tokens instead of shares — and myriad science projects, is there anything substantive occurring with blockchain?

While some are bullish on strong use cases for the industry, others are still skeptical about when — or even if — CUs will be willing and able to dive into blockchain.

Financial institutions process hundreds of thousands of interbank payments per day on behalf of their clients, which can be revolutionized by blockchain, writes Angel Diaz, vice president of technology and advocacy for IBM Digital Business Group.