29.03.2024

Bank of America Joins R3’s Marco Polo Blockchain Global Trade Network

Daniel Cotti, managing director for the Marco Polo Network, said he is looking forward to working with Bank of America to address critical market challenges.

Bank of America has joined R3’s Corda-powered Marco Polo Network “to tackle trade finance challenges.”

Cointelegraph also wrote that Marco Polo onboarded three new members for piloting and evaluation purposes, namely financial services firm BayernLB, Frankfurt-based bank Helaba and back office service provider S-Servicepartner.

“Tackle trade finance challenges”

On Sept. 19, Marco Polo announced the multinational investment bank was joining its network to improve international trade inefficiencies and deliver a better service for its customers. Geoff Brady, head of global trade at Bank of America, said:

“Joining the Marco Polo Network supports our strategic objective of turning technology advances into trade solutions that address client needs. We look forward to exploring how the new technology can generate greater transparency for our clients throughout the transaction lifecycle, making traditionally paper-based, opaque processes easier and more efficient.”

Following in the footsteps of Mastercard

Cointelegraph reported in the beginning of September that American financial services giant Mastercard had also revealed its participation in the project, a collaboration between R3 and Irish tech company TradeIX. The initiative provides a multi-asset class platform that offers broker-dealer services and multicurrency transactions.

Aeternity Blockchain Will Be Used to Track Cannabis in Uruguay

Decentralized application (DApp)-focused blockchain Aeternity will be used to track the supply chain of Montevideo-based medical and recreational cannabis producer Uruguay Can.

Aeternity announced in a press release published on Sept. 25 that it is creating a supply chain management platform for the partner combining the Internet of Things and DApps. Aeternity Americas CEO Pablo Coirolo explained:

“We want to be the first to offer a business-level solution in partnership with leading technology providers and cannabis producers, processors and distributors. … æternity technology is ideal for tracking the entire cannabis production process, from seed to full plant growth, throughout the entire supply chain, which ensures consumer safety while complying with regulations.”

A progressive country

Uruguay became the world’s first country to completely legalize cannabis production and sale in December 2013.

The first phase of supply chain management system implementation will take place in October and is expected to be completed in January 2020. Full implementation is planned for mid-2021.

Uruguay Can CEO Eduardo Blasina commented on the development:

“We are proud to be the first company in Uruguay that can guarantee the quality of our products in a transparent and verifiable way. … The ability to trace the source and the way cannabis is produced is beneficial for both the cannabis and pharmaceutical industry as well as its consumers and end users, who should feel more secure about the product that they are consuming.”

As Cointelegraph reported earlier this month, also blockchain tracking startup TruTrace Technologies Inc. has partnered with «Big Four» auditing firm Deloitte to track cannabis using blockchain technology.

Australian Securities Exchange Confirms It’ll Go Blockchain in 2021

The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has made new partners to apply blockchain to its registry, settlement and clearing systems (CHESS) in 2021.

VMware and Digital Asset step in

The ASX confirmed its anticipation of delivering the CHESS replacement system by 2021, following a new agreement with NYSE-listed tech firm VMware and Digital Asset Holding (DA), according to a press release published on Aug. 26.

According to the report, the ASX has signed a three-party memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the firms to collaborate on blockchain projects in Australia and New Zealand as well as to jointly develop the application to replace its equities clearing and settlement system.

The MoU also includes the support of the open-source smart contract programming language called DAML. Developed by DA, a firm partly-owned by the ASX, DAML is used to build distributed applications.

Two years in development

ASX’s plans for replacing the CHESS with blockchain were first revealed in 2017 in order to boost the CHESS with major blockchain-powered efficiencies such as faster transactions, improved security and reduced costs.

The exchange initially planned to deliver the system by 2020 but faced a six-month delay as blockchain implementation required more time to user development and testing.

Peter Hiom, ASX Deputy CEO, said that the new partnership confirms the company’s belief in the potential of distributed ledger technology as they remain on track to deliver the CHESS replacement system in March-April 2021.

As reported, the ASX launched the first implementation for its blockchain-based replacement app development tool in early May 2017. The exchange then released the first code for the app on the new platform called the Customer Development Environment, based on exchange’s existing offering CHESS.

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