Nordic private banking institution Nordea is expanding its offering of the blockchain-based trading platform we.trade to its small and middle-sized business customers (SMEs), according to a press release on May 9. The platform will purportedly help address trust deficits extant in current cross-border trades made by SMEs. Patrik Zekkar, Global Head of Trade Finance and Working Capital Management at Nordea, explained: “Almost 60 percent of the SME’s said that they have to make advance payments so there is obviously a sense of insecurity surrounding cross-border trade. This is unfortunate, not only from a liquidity standpoint, it may also lead to …

The Ecuador-based Sustainable Shrimp Partnership (SSP) is joining IBM's Food Trust Ecosystem, using IBM’s blockchain technology to ensure the quality of SSP shrimp products, according to a press release on May 6. By joining the Food Trust Ecosystem, retailers and consumers will have access to production and development data on the SSP shrimp products. Director of SSP Pamela Nath said: “Our aim is to have SSP premium quality shrimp in supermarkets and on menus where the consumer can scan the QR code and find out which farm it is from, how it was farmed, and key indicators on its food …

Researchers have re-engineered the Hyperledger Fabric to support almost seven times more transactions per second (TPS), according to a May 2 news release from Canada’s University of Waterloo. A new series of optimizations increased the volume of data that the blockchain — used by financial institutions, IT giants and engineering companies — can process. Where it formerly maxed out around 3,000 TPS, the researchers claim they managed to achieve 20,000 TPS. The university’s work focused on improving “end-to-end transaction throughput” by redesigning Fabric’s ordering service, transaction service and data management layer. This means that the blockchain is more practical for …

20 percent of the top 10 global grocers will use blockchain by 2025, according to information released by research firm Gartner Inc on April 30. Per Gartner, the main advantage of blockchain for grocers is that it provides a high degree of transparency. For grocers, this means they can use blockchain as a way to convey reliable information to their customers and retailers. Gartner even claims that blockchain “appears as an ideal technology to foster transparency and visibility along the food supply chain.” Gartner says that grocery sales are increasing globally, and that consumers now know more about a food’s …

American global tech giant IBM signed a new agreement with Chinese PC maker Lenovo to apply blockchain in Lenovo’s customer service, according to a press release on April 25. IBM, а top global developer of blockchain patents after Alibaba, will apply blockchain technology in the customer service processes at Lenovo’s Data Center Group. Specifically, Lenovo will use blockchain tech to monitor supply chains of hardware and software used in its data centers. Blockchain tech will be one of a number of components that IBM will integrate into Lenovo’s customer systems, including Virtual Assistant for Technical Support, enhanced personalization tool Client …

Tech giant IBM has been awarded a patent for a mobile data sharing method that uses distributed ledger technology (DLT), according to documents published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on April 23. The product described in the filing represents a continuation of U.S. patent application filed in November 2017 entitled “Information Sharing Among Mobile Apparatus.” IBM proposes a method executed by a mobile apparatus to verify information that has been shared between two devices. In detail, the platform can collect specific information and deliver it to nearby computing nodes, with subsequent publishing of a verified incident …

Volkswagen is joining a blockchain-powered scheme to ensure the cobalt used in lithium-ion batteries for its electric vehicles is responsibly sourced. The carmaker announced its involvement in a news release on April 18. The German-headquartered company hopes the technology, built on the IBM Blockchain Platform, will “increase efficiency, sustainability and transparency in global mineral supply chains.” In smartphones to cars, cobalt has become a crucial component for consumer products, but according to an IBM blog, two-thirds of global production comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where an estimated two million miners face “profound challenges including human rights violations.” …

The Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) has launched a blockchain-neutral Token Taxonomy Initiative in partnership with major firms, according to a press release from EEA on April 17. The initiative will seek to define tokens in non-technical and cross-industry terms in a bid to drive enterprise token adoption at scale. The EEA describes itself “a member-driven standards organization whose charter is to develop open, blockchain specifications that drive harmonization and interoperability.” Members of the initiative reportedly include global consulting firm Accenture, major banks Santander and JPMorgan Chase, blockchain incubator ConsenSys, Big Four auditor EY, tech giants Intel, Microsoft and IBM, blockchain …

Switzerland-based food giant Nestlé, French supermarket chain Carrefour and IBM have partnered to use the latter’s blockchain technology to track a famous French convenience food, the companies announced in a press release on April 15. Nestlé and Carrefour, both of which are members of IBM’s Food Trust blockchain platform, will use the technology from today to track the supply chain of Mousline, a well-known brand of instant mashed potatoes. Once it rolls out, shoppers will be able to scan a QR code with their smartphones to know exactly where the potatoes in a specific packet came from, as well as …

United States food and drug chain Albertsons Companies has become the latest client retailer of IBM’s Food Trust blockchain platform, the company confirmed in a press release on April 11. Albertsons, which operates a network of 2,300 stores across the U.S., will use the platform initially to track the supply chain for romaine lettuce, but aims to branch out into other products. Since it launched in October 2018, Food Trust has grown to incorporate around 80 clients in a rapidly-expanding industry, Albertsons noting that over five million food products now use blockchain technology as part of their delivery process. “Blockchain …

Multinational computing giant IBM is adding to its arsenal of blockchain patents with a new implementation to manage data and interactions for self-driving vehicles (SDVs). The patent was published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office on April 2. IBM — which has, according to the documents, previously filed extensive patents for various inventions related to autonomous cars — outlines that a blockchain system could effectively enhance SDV configurations by allowing for robust privacy and information validation. The context for prospective blockchain implementation would be a system wherein an SDV interacts and predicts the behavior of the drivers of …

The European Union announced the launch of the International Association of Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA) on its official website on April 3. According to a Cointelegraph representative who attended today’s ceremony at the European Commission in Brussels, the more than 100 members who have signed the charter include IBM, Accenture and Deutsche Telekom. Among the blockchain-related members number Iota, Ripple, ConsenSys, and the Sovrin Foundation. Per the announcement, INATBA aims to bring together industry startups, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), regulators and standard setting bodies to bring blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) into the mainstream. During the Brussels ceremony, …