Lithuania’s central bank, Bank of Lithuania, has selected technology behemoth IBM and IT services firm Tieto as the finalists contending to develop its blockchain platform. Financial technology news outlet FintechFutures reported on the contest’s developments on Oct. 23. Per the report, both firms will test their platform and the winner will be selected later in 2019 as part of the project dubbed LBChain. The project's manager at the Bank of Lithuania Andrius Adamonis commented: “The final testing session will show which solution is most suitable for market needs. [...] We believe that the greatest advantage of LBChain is its versatility. …

Blockchain platform TBCASoft, technology behemoth IBM and telecommunications conglomerate SoftBank announced on Oct. 22 a collaboration to adopt a cross-carrier telecommunications blockchain payment solution. New cross-carrier system Per the release, the partnership aims to allow carriers to use blockchain through the Carrier Blockchain Study Group (CBSG) Consortium — founded by TBCASoft and SoftBank. TBCASoft reportedly already created a cross-carrier blockchain with 18 participants. The first application that CBSG intends to launch is the Cross-Carrier Payment System (CCPS), which aims to enable mobile service users to use their phones for payments with local merchants abroad. Founder and CEO of TBCASoft Ling …

Global Container Terminals (GCT), a container terminal operator in North America, has joined Maersk and IBM's blockchain shipping tool TradeLens. Adding four Canadian and U.S. terminals to the platform As part of the initiative, Vancouver-based GCT will gradually roll out the blockchain-based platform at the four terminals it operates, the firm said in a press release on Oct. 17. GCT wants to use the platform to improve visibility on the cargo supply chain to the east and west coasts of North America. The platform will establish a secure interconnection between all members of the supply chain, including ocean carriers, cargo …

The Spanish-speaking world has seen another week of major cryptocurrency and blockchain developments with the Mexican government announcing a new alliance to support the development of blockchain initiatives. Here is the past week of crypto and blockchain news in review, as originally reported by Cointelegraph en Español. Mexican government announces an alliance to support local blockchain development On Oct. 14, the Federal Ministry of Economy of Mexico and the Internet Association MX announced a set of measures to improve the development of government-led projects in blockchain technology. As part of the initiative, the ministry announced the establishment of a new …

Global tech giant IBM has launched a new integrated supply chain product based on IBM’s technologies including Watson AI and IBM Blockchain. Hybrid-cloud integration Called Sterling Supply Chain Suite, the new IBM’s product enables hybrid-cloud support of data integration between manufacturers, retailers and other network participants, purportedly providing greater reliability, transparency and security, the firm announced on Oct. 8. Specifically, the level of integration flexibility provided by the new service enables enterprises to update and improve their supply-chain solutions in accordance with business needs. Red Hat acquisition IBM says the open-architecture capabilities of Sterling Supply Chain Suite services are strengthened …

At the end of September, a number of established crypto firms (including Kraken, Bittrex and Coinbase) that are currently operating in the United States came together to establish a new governance body called the Crypto Rating Council (CRC) so as to jointly provide more clarity on the definition of various cryptocurrencies — that is, establish which digital assets can be classified as securities and those that can not. This development comes as an effort to provide investors (as well as casual enthusiasts) with a clear outlook on which tokens they can trade freely without supervision by various regulatory authorities. Some …

According to a report published on Sept. 26, executive vice-president for global media at Unilever Luis Di Como told advertisement news outlet Campaign that using blockchain has helped the company save money. The consumer packaged goods giant said there was no leakage in its media investments made as part of the pilot project. The system reportedly allows for more efficient ad reconciliation in a “process by which advertisers ensure contracted agreements are actually delivered.” Unilever has been collaborating with computing giant IBM on the project in question for the past 18 months. It is estimated that Unilever saved two to …

Electronics giant Samsung filed for a patent in May 2019 titled, “Programmable Blockchain Solid State Drive and Switch.” Even though few details are known about the newly designed system, a surge in patent applications filed by large corporations on blockchain is clearly visible. Related: Bank of America’s Blockchain Foray: Patent Trolling or Hedging Risks? Patent wars — i.e., battles between corporations or individuals to secure patents for litigation — are certainly not new. They have been widely practiced in the tech ecosystem since the times of Alexander Graham Bell at the turn of the 20th century, who was involved in …

Technology behemoth International Business Machines (IBM) is open to working with Facebook on its Libra stablecoin, CNBC reported on Sept. 23. IBM’s general manager of blockchain services Jason Kelley said that the company is looking to spur collaboration in the space, noting that “blockchain is a team sport.” He also highlighted the firm’s openness to the idea of collaborating with Facebook: “Our clients are ready to work with [Facebook] and we’re ready to work with all of them to bring it together.” Tokenization, not cryptocurrencies IBM has created its own blockchain, which the company claims enables greater “transparency around everything …

IBM, Citibank and video game giant Ubisoft have signed up to Singapore-based Tribe Accelerator. Corporations mingle with blockchain startups Local news outlet The Straits Times reported on Sept. 18 that the companies have joined as corporate partners for the second edition of Tribe's four-month program. According to the report, Tribe helps blockchain startups in their growth stage by connecting them with major corporations. Startups in this second group operate in fields such as media and advertising, cybersecurity, healthcare, fintech and supply chain management. The list of participating startups includes Binance-backed digital identity and password management firm Torus, distributed database service …

A group of global coffee companies is aiming to launch a blockchain platform to track coffee using an IBM-developed app by early 2020. Building on IBM Food Trust Platform Farmer Connect, a tech startup developing farm-to-client traceability tools, has teamed up with the world’s top coffee firms such as Jacobs Douwe Egberts and Smucker's to apply blockchain to coffee supply chain tracking using the IBM Food Trust Platform, it was announced on Sept. 18. According to a news release by Farmer Connect, the startup has worked with IBM to build the “Thank My Farmer” app, which provides consumers with detailed …

Walmart is currently making use of blockchain technology to create a food traceability system based on the Linux Foundation’s Hyperledger Fabric. Along with IBM, the retail giant has already tested two proof-of-concept projects to examine its envisioned system. The first project deals actively with tracing the origins of the mangoes being sold across Walmart’s stores in the United States, while the other seeks to trace the pork meat being sold via the company’s different Chinese outlets. From an efficiency perspective, the research team at Walmart claims that by making use of this new system, the time needed to trace the …