Tencent has been expanding its research into blockchain, with the firm registering a series of patents detailing distributed ledger technology (DLT)-based solutions for fund management, and advertising. Chinese media outlet Egsea reported the patents on June 18, noting that the filings also included blockchain-based consumer applications, hardware devices, and media storage systems. The recent filings come as blockchain sees increasing enterprise adoption in the areas of cloud, artificial intelligence and internet-of-things (IoT). Tencent continues amassing DLT patents The new filings will extend Tencent’s presumed dominance in the number of blockchain patents held. In April, media outlet China Banking News reported …

ConsenSys developer and Baseline Protocol co-founder, John Wolpert, has predicted that we may still be decades away from seeing wholesale mainstream adoption of crypto assets and distributed ledger technologies. “My personal point of view is that these things tend to run in 20-year cycles,” Wolpert told Cointelegraph. “Everybody who's running companies today needs to retire. And the new people need to show up. We saw that with mobile.” Crypto compared to pre-1980’s internet Wolpert compared the trajectory of cryptocurrency to the development of the internet from its conception in 1969, contradicting persistent analogies between Bitcoin and the internet of the …

IBM has announced an initiative to build a distributed ledger technology, or DLT, based architecture to underpin the digital pension system for Bangladeshi primary school teachers. The proof-of-concept comprises a permissioned network of teachers and other stakeholders powered by the IBM Blockchain Platform, with pension information uploaded to the blockchain to ensure tamper-resistant record-keeping and offer security assurances to teachers participating in GBB’s e-pension system. The pilot is being conducted in partnership with the Bangladesh Computer Council, BCC, a government overseeing IT policy in the country. IBM’s blockchain platform is slated to host the live version of the digital pension …

Eight new members have joined Hyperledger, including several firms targeting tokenization initiatives. Hyperledger is a consortium of firms working on open-source enterprise solutions using distributed ledger technologies (DLT). Launched in December 2015 by the Linux Foundation, the project has since received contributions from IBM, Intel, and other leading tech firms exploring blockchain applications. Blockchain veterans among the new members, include IOHK, the company behind Cardano (ADA), IOV Labs — formerly RIF Labs — and crypto-friendly payments platform Public Mint. Other new entrants include Japanese consulting and PR firm Binarystar, and Atomyze, a tokenization platform launched by Switzerland’s TokenTrust AG. DB …

Vanguard, the world’s second-largest index fund manager, has announced the successful completion of the first phase of its blockchain pilot trialing the digitization of asset-backed securities (ABS). The pilot has seen Vanguard partner with a large U.S.-based ABS provider, distributed ledger technology provider Symbiont, and financial institutions BNY Mellon and Citi, to model the full life cycle of securities settlement using a distributed ledger technology network. Vanguard and Symbiont envisage later phases of the pilot will integrate smart contracts into the ABS issuance and settlement process, offering “increased information flow, enhance[d] price discovery and secondary market liquidity” and the automated …

Major South Korean insurance firm KB Insurance plans to implement a blockchain-enabled mobile message delivery system for its clients. According to a June 9 report by industry news outlet Ledger Insights, KB will use the system jointly developed with local telecommunication firm KT Corp starting next month. The service will at first deliver payment and termination notices to auto insurance customers, but the firm plans to expand it to all its customers. The purpose is to reduce mailing costs and non-delivery of notifications. Blockchain ensures the message delivery The new message delivery solution uses blockchain to send insurance policy changes …

Blockchain firms are increasingly dominating Hong Kong’s financial technology sector, with 39% of new firms launching in the country’s fintech industry last year operating with distributed ledger technology, or DLT. According to Hong Kong’s Financial Services and Treasury Bureau, DLT represents an increasingly dominant share of the country’s new fintech firms year-over-year, up from 27% as of 2018. Blockchain drives big businesses in Hong Kong A June 1 report published by Hong Kong’s treasury department has provided a detailed snapshot of blockchain’s accelerating growth within the territory. Blockchain comprises the fastest-growing segment of the territory’s fintech industry, with 22 of …

Mexico’s blockchain and financial technology, or fintech, industries have nearly doubled in size over just two years, according to data provided to Cointelegraph Espanol by blockchain-focused law firm, Legal Paradox. The firm estimates that Mexico’s fintech and blockchain sector has grown by 90% since 2018, describing the country as establishing a “benchmark” for the industry worldwide. Despite the global economic slowdown amid the coronavirus pandemic, Legal Paradox notes an increase in local adoption of distributed ledger technology, or DLT, as large traditional firms turn to blockchain solutions in a bid to reduce inefficiencies and best position themselves to survive the …

Microsoft, IBM, Nasdaq and a number of other technology and financial organizations from around the world recently formed the InterWork Alliance, or IWA. The alliance, which currently consists of 36 members, serves as a non-profit organization dedicated to creating global standards needed to drive tokenized ecosystems. Microsoft’s principal architect and the IWA chairman, Marley Gray, told Cointelegraph that any expression of value in any vertical or use case can be rendered as a token. Cryptocurrencies, for example, are one of the many types of tokens that can be exchanged across multiple parties, creating a tokenized ecosystem. Yet as tokenized environments …

The Norwegian-based producer of farmed-salmon, Kvarøy Arctic, has become the latest firm to join IBM’s Food Trust — the tech giant’s blockchain-based supply chain solution for the food industry. Kvarøy Arctic is a supplier for numerous restaurants and Whole Foods retailers in the United States and Canada, and will now utilize blockchain technology to provide detailed information on the origin of its produce to restaurants and consumers. Raj Rao, IBM Food Trust’s general manager, described the partnership as “promoting transparency and sustainability in the seafood supply chains.” Blockchain boosts transparency Information regarding the origin of salmon farmed by Kvarøy Arctic …

With Germany aiming to decommission all nuclear power generation in the country by 2022 and all coal-fired stations by 2038, myriad disparate renewable energy producers of various sizes are stepping up to meet demand. Distributed ledger technology is increasingly underpinning the architecture for many systems being designed by the country’s innovative renewable energy providers. Cointelegraph spoke to Richard Lohwasser, the co-founder and CEO of Lition Energie — a Berlin-based greentech startup that has launched a blockchain-based marketplace allowing consumers to choose between multiple energy providers — to discuss how DLT is being used across Germany’s evolving energy sector. A blockchain-powered …

“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success” — the words of Henry Ford give expression to the spirit of collaboration that defines human progress. His ethos around unity extends to many societal strands, including endeavors of profit, community initiatives and far-reaching government policies. When navigating uncharted territory, such as the handling of technological innovation from a regulatory perspective, different stakeholder groups must resist the urge to remain siloed in their strategies and lean into Ford’s vision for shared success. The art of enacting legislation requires strong cooperation and delicate management of stakeholder interests, …