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Allianz Advances with Blockchain-Based Token System

As the growing adoption of blockchain technology approaches the mainstream enterprises, the insurance giant, Allianz has also entered the blockchain sector. Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE (AGCS) has progressively been developing a token-based ecosystem utilizing blockchain technology.

Currently, the token is still in the experimental phase, although the basic core infrastructure has already been constructed, tested, and examined.

A spokesperson mentioned to Forbes:

AGCS is further exploring blockchain technology to simplify and accelerate cross-border insurance payments for its corporate customers. A project team is in the advanced stages of development for a token-based electronic payment system to allow for frictionless, transparent, and instantaneous money transfers for a range of different types [of] payments.

About the Token

The “internal token” developed by Allianz aims to tackle issues of the inefficiencies of the worldwide money transfer for its global affiliates. It will be run on a proprietary blockchain built by the company, Adjoint.

Oliver Volk, the blockchain expert at Allianz, told Coindesk, the token would be “very helpful to get rid of FX constraints and other stuff we have to optimize, especially if you talk to certain currencies which we do not accept at our headquarters and have to be reconverted.”

Global Enterprises and Blockchain Adoption

Recently reported, the US insurance giant, State Farm, and the United Services Automobile Association were testing a blockchain-based solution to streamline the insurance claims process.

Other large mainstream players have also been experimenting with blockchain in 2019. JP Morgan Chase announced its JPM Coin, Facebook introduced Libra, and Walmart has been taking a step towards developing its own digital currency as well.

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TRON Launches Sidechain Solution & Aims to List on Coinbase

Decentralized application platform, Tron (TRX) announced the launch of its sidechain solution, the Sun Network, as revealed in the company’s blog on 11 August.

The Sun Network is a scaling solution that aims to provide unlimited scalability to the Tron MainNet. The Network incorporates several scaling projects such as DAppChain, which is a sidechain scaling project that offers unlimited scalability to the Tron MainNet.

There are two distinguishing features of Sun Network compared to other scaling solutions:

1) The network focuses on improving the transaction processing systems of the smart contract transactions as well as lowering transaction fees.

2) The sidechain development can satisfy more customized requirements, such as transaction rates, transaction confirmation speed and setting sidechain incentives.

Tron founder, Justin Sun tweeted on 10 August that it is the company’s number one priority to get Tron listed on the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase after Tron supporters raised a concern on whether US citizens can trade TRX in Coinbase in a tweet on the same day.

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Bangladesh Cashing in into the Blockchain Bandwagon Ahead of the 'Fourth Industrial Revolution'

Blockchain technology has seen an increasing amount of adoption, from large conglomerates researching its uses and testing it out, to officials such as President Xi Jinping, endorsing and seizing the opportunities that it may bring.

Dr. Mohammad Saifur Rahman, the US-based blockchain expert, said that blockchain can have applications in financial industries, including remittance, credit, and payment industries, as well as e-governance in Bangladesh.

Rahman added, without the support from the Bangladesh government, it would be “extremely difficult to realize the full potential of blockchain in the country.” He said, “I am so proud of the current ongoing work in e-governance and certifications like know-your-customer projects and microfinance-related blockchain programmes that have started in the country.”

IT project fund for blockchain training

Authorities in Bangladesh planned to send 100 IT graduates abroad to countries such as Japan and India to boost their expertise in distributed ledger technology, including blockchain, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cybersecurity.

In addition to this effort, the authorities also plan to send 200 graduates of computer science and electrical and electronics engineering to gain professional knowledge in the future trends of information technology, seeing that the IT space is fast-changing.

The fourth industrial revolution is coming

Bangladesh High Tech Park Authority is a government autonomous organization working under the ICT division of Bangladesh. The Bangladesh High Tech Park Authority has been established in 2010, and now working to establish 28 high tech parks and software technology parks.

The authority also aiming to create a conducive business environment for investors, encouraging and welcoming investors in their path. Investing in Bangladesh will also allow the country to create more employment opportunities.

As the fourth industrial revolution is coming, according to Safiqul Islam, the Project Director of Bangladesh High Tech Park Authority, the organization is keen to create a substantial talent pool. With a population of over 170 million in the country, 5.5 million are enrolled in universities every year.

“The government is supporting the development of blockchain, artificial intelligence, Robotech, and other new emerging technologies in the country,” said Islam. There are also government grant programs to create a larger talent pool in this area, to face new challenges, he said, at the Asian Financial Forum (AFF).

The government also developed innovation centers and startup facilities in different universities, for students to create an innovative ecosystem in Bangladesh, said Islam.

Online and e-businesses, according to Islam, have also been increasingly flourishing. The Bangladesh High Tech Park Authority is also providing a one-stop service for investors, through its online services.

Data preservation was of crucial importance for the advancement of Bangladesh

The National Data Centre in Bangladesh was opened by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, which is the world’s seventh-largest ICT facility, aiming to take a step forward to building a Digital Bangladesh. Built in 2016 on seven acres of land, the centre has obtained a certificate from the United States’ Uptime Institute, well known for its tier standard and the certification of data centre compliance standards.

The data center was built as Bangladesh has been dependent on foreign ICT facilities. “But with the introduction of our own data centre, we will be able to save that money and simultaneously generate income from it,” said the Prime Minister.

Brazil Highlights Blockchain Technology as a Digital Strategy Goal

Last week, Brazil unveiled its Digital Government Strategy that highlighted the use of distributed ledger systems and blockchain technology to transform major parts of the economy, especially in a post-COVID-19 environment.

Brazil’s blockchain push

Major takeaways of the “Decree 10332/2020” include the unification of digital payment and financial channels, development of interoperability between legacy systems, and the “transformation” of digital services.

Some major goals, listed by Brazil’s government, include the promotion of [decentralized] government databases, making citizen identification fully digital, and optimizing existing framework.

The decree noted blockchain platforms serve as the bedrock for all goals listed above. In addition, the use of blockchain can enhance trust in governments while introducing verifiable decision making within all critical processes.

The decree noted, “Initiative 8.3. Make, at least, nine datasets available in federal public administration via blockchain solution, until 2022.”

The document called for “initiation” of resources for creating an interoperable Federal Government blockchain network, with relevant digital identification software and a secure algorithm to ensure no lapse in citizens’ privacy.

Countries moving to the blockchain as a preferred tool comes as no surprise. Distributed systems help reduce bureaucracy and corruption while protecting sensitive information and promoting trust.

Taking a leaf from China’s book

However, risks still exist. Blockchain infrastructure is still in its early stages, meaning extensive testing and limited trial runs are required before blockchain-based frameworks are applied for a critical, sensitive solution.

Blockchain systems also tend to be complex. Distributed computing remains a difficult area for software developers, with security, scalability, and network congestion all factors affecting performance.

But Brazil can look towards countries like China, which is currently leading in blockchain-related legal, regulation, technological progress.

The introduction of national standards, as China has unveiled, will help propel blockchain technology in most nations. “Incubation” areas, such as those in Anhui, help developers and investors to share ideas and work related to blockchain, in turn contributing to the creation of scalable and trusted solutions.

Meanwhile, the move is not Brazil’s first foray into blockchain systems. In 2019, as Blockchain.News reported, the country introduced the world’s first birth certificate issued on a blockchain. The country also mulled the creation of a native digital currency, touted a rival to stateless cryptocurrencies.

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Head of Chinese Investment Firm Believes Blockchain will "Lead" China's Economy, Here's Why

China’s blockchain push seems never-ending, various governmental and financial officials of the country have, in recent times, spoken on the merits of blockchain technology and how a distributed ecosystem may help bolster the ongoing “fourth industrial revolution.”

Oncoming digital globalization

Dr. Xiao Feng, who serves as the VP of China-focused investment fund China Wanxiang Holdings, spoke at the M&A Summit in Shanghai last week, elucidating about blockchain technology as a tool to help realize the “digital globalization.”

In his keynote attended by investors and high-ranking officials, Feng said the ongoing globalization will shift from a physical aspect to a digital one, with blockchain technology serving as a primary feature of the latter.

Feng pointed out the “digital trust mechanism” presented by distributed computing systems help with data detectability, immutability, and irrevocability, recognizing that no critical data can be tampered with when moved to a blockchain-based system.

Calling out the pandemic and ongoing US-China trade war, Feng believes globalization has benefited “Wall Street” and many international companies in the past. However, the behavior ended up creating “victims” of a profit-based economy, referring to the middle class and industrial works.

But blockchain can help close that gap. Feng noted, “With the help of digital technology, the labor force can be traded from now on, and employees do not need to move from the United States to China, although the industry moves to China.”

Blockchain an infrastructural shift

Feng’s words can bear true in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many firms and economies to move to a relatively decentralized system, in terms of infrastructure, while a general lack of trust is spewing among citizens of various countries.

With blockchain technology, newer ways of trackability for tasks will be explored. Examples include a more-goal driven approach than the previously used measures of gauging an employee’s performance, such as marking attendance over actual work output.

With regard to the above, Feng said businesses will undergo a massive digital change and an “overhaul” of their administrative practice. He added that “the industrial revolution has reached the degree of diminishing marginal utility.”

For the uninitiated, marginal utility states the usability of a service or good declines as its supply increases. Economic actors devote each successive unit of a good or service towards less and less valued ends.

Fed Chair Powell Asserts Money Supply is for Central Banks not Private Sector

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell asserted that the private sector has no place in money issuance, and by extension the development of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

The House Committee on Financial Services met again yesterday, and an interesting exchange took place between Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and Representative Tom Emmer (R-MN) over whether CBDC should be developed in a private-public partnership.

In the hearing on June 17, as the topic turned to CBDC, Chairman Powell made his feelings clear that he did not view the private sector as having any place in money issuance.

Where is the Digital Dollar?

In a previous open hearing by the House Committee On Financial services the Honorable Christopher Giancarlo once again advocated for the use of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) as an effective means of stimulus distribution and added that China is gaining a lot of ground in this regard.

But how far off is a United States CBDC or digital dollar? That was the question posed by Representative Emmer, a ranking member of the Fintech Task Force, to the Fed Chairman as he questioned, “What substantive recent actions has the Fed taken to understand and experiment with this technology?”

While Powell responded to the inquiry, his answer was very vague and diplomatic. He simply said that the US Government has an obligation to the public to keep them up to speed with innovation. He added, “If this (CBDC) is something that is going to be good for the United States economy and for the world’s reserve currency, which is the dollar, then we need to be there and we need to understand it first and best.”

No Place for the Private Sector in Money Supply

Later in the hearing, Powell also responded to the initiatives of the Digital Dollar Project, which is headed up by former CFTC Chairman Giancarlo—who has expressed a need for the digital dollar or a CBDC to be developed through a private-public partnership.

Powell clearly expressed that neither he nor the Federal Reserve were interested in such a collaboration. He said, “The private sector is not involved in creating the money supply. That’s something that the central bank does.” He added, “I don’t really think the public would welcome the idea that private employees who are not accountable solely to the public good would be responsible for something this important.”

It is unclear what accountability Powell refers to, as the US government continues to print money from thin air with seemingly little thought for the consequences on the dollar’s value and the incoming inflation that will be felt globally.

Protecting the Dollar

The response of Chairman Powell regarding the private sector being involved in money issuance should come as no surprise as the US Government has, throughout their history, gone to extreme measures to retain control of the defacto global currency in the US Dollar.

The inception of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which, was essentially built to potentially destabilize and displace the central source of power for our governments—their control over traditional financial systems and monetary issuance—has been a growing concern to the United States.

US authorities and regulators have famously hammered Facebook’s Libra project into submission as a token supported by two billion users was again too much of a threat to their monetary control. US regulators also clearly encroached on the rights of other sovereign nations when they banned the distribution of Grams and the launch of the TON, not just in the US but globally.

President Trump has been incredibly outspoken on the subject of Bitcoin and also believed Facebook’s Libra to have little standing or dependability. Last year he was quoted saying, “We have only one real currency in the USA. It is by far the most dominant currency anywhere in the world, and it will always stay that way. It is called the United States Dollar!”

Bank of Japan Sets Up New Research Team For Digital Yen CBDC Development

Japan’s central bank announced that it has set up a new research team to dive deeper into Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) experimentation and development. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) is possibly preparing for a CBDC, given the recent rising demand for classless payments and growing interest among other central banks.

The New Team to Explore the Use of CBDCs

The new team would follow up on the Bank of Japan’s efforts on CBDCs, as well as on joint research that the central bank has been carrying out with other major central banks since January. In other words, the new team is set to take over from a previous working (research) group, which was created in January this year to look into the feasibility of a national CBDC. Furthermore, the team would continue doing research work undertaken with other leading central banks.

The team would belong to the central bank’s payment and settlement systems department.

Since the beginning of this year, Japan’s central bank has been formally researching CBDCs when it partnered with five major central banks, including the Swiss National Bank, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, the Sveriges Riksbank (Sweden), and the Bank of Canada. The formation of the new team indicates that the Bank of Japan is determined towards CBDCs.

A New Deal for Japan

The news comes just a few days when Japan’s government said it is contemplating issuing a national digital currency by including the plan in its policy framework. The move to include such a plan in the country’s policy framework would make the issuance of a CBDC as part of this year’s government policy.

Although the Bank of Japan has previously stated it has no immediate plans to issue a digital yen, the recent breaking news indicates urgency. Japan’s central bank is shifting towards embracing technology as China appears to be moving quickly to launch its own CBDC. Japan’s lawmaker, Norihiro Nakayama, once stated that Japan would require support from the US to curb the influence of China’s digital currency.

Goldman Sachs Explores Development of its Own Digital Token

Leading global investment bank Goldman Sachs is exploring avenues of development to potentially create its own cryptocurrency.

As reported by CNBC on August 6, the bank has appointed Mathew McDermott as the worldwide head of digital assets to spearhead the realization of this dream.

Blockchain holds the future of financial markets

McDermott brings to the table a wide array of experience in the financial markets, and he sees blockchain technology as a backbone of the future monetary system.

He noted:

“In the next five to 10 years, you could see a financial system where all assets and liabilities are native to a blockchain, with all transactions natively happening on chain.”

Blockchain could help streamline distinctive processes in the digital financial markets ecosystem like securitization, debt issuances, and loan origination.

Goldman Sachs has been a notable trendsetter in the blockchain/crypto space as proponents have been following its footsteps. Therefore, it seeks to go a notch higher by launching its own digital token.

McDermott stipulated:

“We are exploring the commercial viability of creating our own fiat digital token, but it’s early days.”

He also aired his radical vision for financial markets as a future where the globe’s monetary assets will reside on blockchain-powered electronic ledgers.

Harnessing distributed ledger technology

McDermott asserted that the financial sector necessitated notable revamping. For instance, repurchases agreements or the repo market, which entails a dealer selling government securities to investors, had to go digital using technological innovations like blockchain as this would prompt standardization.

He acknowledged:

“In securities finance and repo, if you look at those markets, they’re ripe for standardization. There’s a lot of legacy processes in the vast movement of collateral that makes them very cost-inefficient, so by leveraging distributed ledger technology, you can standardize processes to manage collateral across the system, and you have a much more efficient settlement process given the real-time settlement.”

Recent research by JP Morgan shows that younger investors are inclined towards Bitcoin, whereas the older ones support gold.

Bank of Japan Wants to Hear From Public About Digital Yen Development

Kazushige Kamiyama, the head of the Bank of Japan (BOJ)’s payment and settlement systems department, announced that for the anticipated national digital currency to become a reality, it must be supported by the public.

Kamiyama stated:

“There is no conclusion yet. At the end of the day, there’s no way we can proceed without gaining sufficient understanding from the Japanese public.”

Kamiyama said that for Japan’s Central Bank to launch a Digital Yen, it needs to ensure that that the central bank digital currency (CBDC) can complement physical cash and other types of electronic payments systems. In addition, CBDC also needs to strengthen the transactions ecosystem for commercial banks and other financial companies, without just serving as a tool that the BOJ uses to achieve its monetary policies.

Kamiyama mentioned:

“We have clearly stated that banknotes and digital currency will coexist. The digital currency won’t be useful to deepen negative rates because there will be banknotes to which the rates can’t be applied.”

Japan and China Rushing to Issue CBDCs

The recent announcement by Kamiyama comes at a time when Japanese lawmakers have been pushing the government to launch its own digital yen. The urge for the country to develop its own CBDC comes as a result of China’s digital currency electronic payment (DCEP) development. The news of the potential launch of China’s DCEP has pushed Japan to realize the benefits and significance of a potential central bank digital currency issuance.

The BOJ said that to keep up with technology, it would collaborate with private sectors and the government to further research on digital currency. Japan’s Central Bank aims to modernize and upgrade the financial industry to cope with changing global financial development.

China has been ahead of other major countries in experimenting on a CBDC as it focuses on becoming the first nation to launch a digital currency to reduce its dependence on the world’s main reserve currency (the U.S dollar payment system). Early this month, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) announced that it has processed more than 3 million transactions worth 1.1 billion yuan ($162 million) as part of its trial DCEP initiative.

While China seems to take the lead towards launching its DCEP, other major economies across the globe are examining the possibility of issuing their own CBDCs.

Mongolia’s Oldest Bank Will Soon Offer Comprehensive Crypto Services

Mongolia’s Trade & Development Bank (TDB Bank), the oldest and one of the largest banks in the nation, seeks to enter the crypto space by offering various services all under one roof, in line with its objective of promoting the Mongolian virtual asset financial business.

Pooling resources together

TDB Bank has partnered with Delio, a white-label technology firm, and Hexland, a blockchain development company, to pool their resources together so that the Mongolian consumer can benefit from comprehensive crypto-related services, such as asset management, loan (landing), deposit, remittance, and virtual asset custody.

The agreement also incorporated MDKI, a mineral resource transportation company, whose partners include Bitfury, a Netherlands-based crypto mining giant.

The bank has made a name for itself as it serves nearly 400 Mongolian companies offering services like financial consulting, trade loans, investment loans, and project loans. Furthermore, it has 50 branches spread across the country and ranks second based on total assets.

Hexland is expected to offer blockchain-based expertise, given that it was founded by Samsung Electronics developers. Its area of specialty includes wallet development and blockchain smart contract development and verification.

Boosting Mongolian crypto penetration

The decision by the TDB Bank to enter the crypto space will be a stepping stone towards enhancing cryptocurrency adoption in Mongolia. It intends to serve both industrial and individual investors in this venture.

A Delio official noted:

“Through this partnership, we are in full swing to enter the global virtual asset financial market.”

Mongolia has been in the limelight when it comes to blockchain integration. As reported by Blockchain.News on January 9, a Toronto-based digital transformation company, Convergence.tech, deployed an Ethereum-based traceability platform dubbed “Backbone” to assist Mongolian nomadic farmers in maximizing returns on their cashmere product.

This blockchain-based solution was supported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and touted to be instrumental in enabling the farmers to eradicate income instability.