Blockchain

BCC Group, BCware and Synadia will jointly develop Web3Link, which the companies say will help banks deploy smart contracts that work with their existing technology and decentralized finance environments.

The new group will provide technical assistance for cloud clients’ blockchain-based platforms.

It's easy for banks to get caught up in the hype around cryptocurrency, but instead of rushing in they should take time to assess how the technology will best meet their own needs and those of their customers.

Figure Technologies, the startup co-founded by Mike Cagney, created a platform to help private companies raise and trade equity using its blockchain technology.

The blockchain startup Figure Technologies and other firms held talks with U.S. regulators about how to issue a stablecoin that satisfies watchdogs amid deep Washington skepticism over the fast-growing corner of the cryptocurrency market.

Crypto firms that offer stablecoins, blockchain-based decentralized finance apps and services supporting peer-to-peer transactions may be required to keep tabs on their users’ identities and funds as a way of preventing money laundering and terrorism financing, the Financial Action Task Force said.

Nonfungible tokens, which provide proof of ownership in the digital world, are booming. Payment companies are betting they will require payment rails to fund high-value purchases and attract new customers for loyalty marketing.

The partnership with Stellar Development Foundation will integrate MoneyGram’s network with the Stellar blockchain to facilitate payments using Circle Internet Financial’s USD Coin. 

Finance that relies on smartphones and smart contracts can lower costs for banking services and promote financial inclusion, proponents say. But a look at who is using the technology tells a different story.

CEO Thomas Cangemi is pushing to modernize a bank that for decades was focused largely on multifamily lending. The company has already agreed to buy the mortgage lender Flagstar Bancorp and its partnership with Figure Technologies, a blockchain-focused fintech, has the potential to make that acquisition more productive.

New York Community Bancorp says it will invest in Figure Technologies, which has developed an open source distributed ledger. The bank plans to use the technology to cut costs in mortgages and payments and promote financial inclusion.

CoinFund, a blockchain-focused investment firm, hired Christopher Perkins from Citigroup as managing partner and president to help bridge the gap to the traditional finance sector.

The blockchain company's new lead on the Continent, Sendi Young, discusses its plans to foster real-time and cross-border transactions between banks and fintechs in ways that aren't possible on legacy networks.

A posting for a digital currency job at Amazon stirred speculation that the e-commerce giant might begin accepting bitcoin at checkout. The company denies that — and experts say it has many other ways to make the most of its intended hire.

State Street is set to offer cryptocurrency reporting, reconciliation and processing services to its private-fund clients in the latest sign that digital assets are gaining acceptance on Wall Street.

Amazon.com’s payments team is exploring letting customers use cryptocurrencies to pay for their orders, a development that’s roiling digital currency markets.

The card issuer, which is offering its customers a chance to purchase non-fungible tokens created from a recent performance by the singer SZA, is betting that the digital art-trading phenomenon will become more mainstream.

Roxe says the distributed ledger technology that removes costly middlemen from international transactions can also lower expenses for currency conversions.

Distributed ledger projects in banking are few and far between — many have stalled and others remain experiments. Robert Townsend, who has worked with banks around the world and written a book about blockchain technology, explains some of the ways financial institutions could be using it, for instance in small-business lending and supply chain finance.