
August 25, 2017
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Market Activity and Trends
Walmart, Kroger & Nestle Team with IBM Blockchain to Fight Food Poisoning
IBM Press Release| August 22, 2017 | https://goo.gl/BrP2Fd

A group of leading companies across the global food supply chain today announced a major blockchain collaboration with IBM intended to further strengthen consumer confidence in the global food system. The consortium includes Dole, Driscoll’s, Golden State Foods, Kroger, McCormick and Company, McLane Company, Nestlé, Tyson Foods, Unilever and Walmart, who will work with IBM to identify new areas where the global supply chain can benefit from blockchain.
To accelerate this adoption, IBM is introducing the first fully integrated, enterprise-grade production blockchain platform, as well as consulting services, that will allow more organizations to quickly activate their own business networks and access the vital capabilities needed to successfully develop, operate, govern and secure these networks.
Visa Blockchain Patent Hints at Digital Asset Service Plans
Coin Desk | August 21, 2017 | https://goo.gl/p1RGHc

A new public patent application published last week hints that Visa, one of the world’s largest credit card issuers, is looking to facilitate the transfer of cryptographic assets through blockchain. The official patent filing is entitled: “Methods and System for Using Digital Signatures to Create Trusted Digital Asset Services.” The application does not dive into specifics, but suggests the system will be used to send and receive digitized assets, making the invention applicable to private and public blockchains.
Along with this initiative, Visa has made other notable blockchain headways. The payments card giant partnered with Chain, a technology startup, to build a business-to-business platform set to launch later this year. Furthermore, Visa has begun building blockchain-based services on the payments front.
Credit Suisse’s Syndicated Loan Effort Process
Coin Desk | August 21, 2017 | https://goo.gl/coRFrU

Credit Suisse’s commercial platform for blockchain-based syndicated loans continue to progress. Emmanuel Aidoo, the head of Credit Suisse’s blockchain initiatives, elaborated on the syndicated loan effort by stating that they, “are working to put a few dozen smaller loan transactions, where we or other participating banks are the agent, onto a distributed ledger platform using smart contracts in production next year.”
The overall goal of the project is to reduce barriers between counterparties, along with decreasing the time and cost in making necessary capital available. Smart contracts will assist in reducing turnaround times, which could make the market more appealing to potential investors. Currently, some investors are put off by how long loan trades take to settle, but increased turnaround time could change this.
Blockchain @ IBM Institute for Business Value

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