Seven Asian banks ‘investigating blockchain technology’

Banks throughout Asia have begun to investigate blockchain technology after previously lagging behind their North American and European competitors, according to a report on the specialist website CoinDesk.

Blockchain, once best known as the technology behind the bitcoin virtual currency, looks set to transform the finance sector, many specialists argue. More formally a “distributed ledger”, a blockchain is a digital record, or ledger, of assets or events that can be shared, or distributed, among many different parties.

Now CoinDesk has compiled a list of seven Asian banks that it says are investigating bitcoin and blockchain technology. It lists them as:

• Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, which is Japan’s largest bank and has developed its own digital currency as part of its research into blockchain and distributed ledger technology;
• KB Kookmin Bank of South Korea, which is developing a blockchain solution for international remittances with the aim of offering “safer and faster” money transmission services;
• DBS Bank of Singapore, which has formed a partnership with the UK’s Standard Chartered to create a distributed ledger project for trade finance;
• SBI Sumishin Net Bank of Japan, which is developing a proof-of-concept aimed at exploring blockchain-based banking services in conjunction with Nomura Research Institute, the research arm of Nomura Holdings;
• The People’s Bank of China, which is considering launching its own digital currency;
• Mizuho Bank of Japan, which has joined the New-York based R3CEV consortium of 42 financial companies researching and developing the use of blockchain in the finance industry; and
• Shinhan Bank of South Korea, which has contributed to the funding of a blockchain remittance startup named Streami.

Separately, Australia’s Westpac is reported by the Australian Financial Review to be looking to blockchain – as well as robots and drones – as a “weapon in the war against obsolescence”. And across the other side of the world, Royal Bank of Canada is reported by CoinDesk to be looking at different use cases for the technology, with tests focused on applications for capital markets, cross-border payments and smart contracts.