August 11, 2017
Market Activity and Trends
Thailand’s KBank Implements Hyperledger Blockchain Contract Solution
Coin Desk | August 8, 2017 | https://goo.gl/L2Uq54
Kasikorn Bank, or KBank, is looking to digitize some of its financial contracts through a new Hyperledger Fabric blockchain solution developed with IBM. Specifically, KBank would like to move away from paper-based letters of guarantee to a wholly digital format.
KBank said that it expects to issues as much as $9 billion in letters of guarantee by the end of next year, with 5 percent of the total amount being executed on the blockchain-powered platform. Looking ahead, KBank wants to find other partners that would use the Hyperledger Fabric platform as well.
HP Blockchain Gains on IBM
Coin Desk | August 7, 2017 |https://goo.gl/6582qq
HP’s spinoff entity, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), partnered with blockchain group, R3, to integrate R3’s signature Corda technology with HP’s own NonStop infrastructure. HPE customers are currently testing the custom blockchain technology, which leverages its own distributed database and messaging systems, and upgrades these with Corda. If the proof-of-concept proves successful, HP could make up ground it has lost to IBM and other competitors.
R3’s managing director, Ricardo Correia, spoke on the free version of Corda, comparing it to a functioning heartbeat without the vital organs attached. Enterprises that demand scalable “organs” must build the platform themselves, or engage in R3’s enterprises services, which HPE is demonstrating with this project.
Microsoft Announces Coco Framework to Smooth Blockchain Adoption
Venture Beat | August 10, 2017 | https://goo.gl/aRhrMp
Microsoft has unveiled the Coco Framework to make it easier for enterprises to adopt blockchain technology by addressing some of the major issues companies run into when deploying blockchain technology. The framework isn’t a distributed ledger itself, but it’s designed to replace and augment parts of other blockchain software in order to accelerate transaction throughput, allow access controls for transactions, and help organizations manage governance.
The Coco Framework will be released in 2018 as an open source project hosted on GitHub. Microsoft already has some big names lined up to adopt the Coco Framework including J.P. Morgan Quorum, R3 Corda, Intel Hyperledger Sawtooth, and Ethereum.
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