Santander Settles Both Sides of a $20 Million Bond Trade on Ethereum
Spanish banking giant Santander says it has become the first institution to use a public blockchain to manage all aspects of a bond issue. The company not only used a token on Ethereum to represent the $20 million debt issuance but settled it with another set of ERC-20 tokens representing cash held in a custody account. To understand why that’s important, imagine asking someone a question on WhatsApp and waiting for them to mail a postcard with the answer. That’s what it’s like to issue securities on a blockchain while settling the cash side of the trade through the analog legacy system. But Santander, in this analogy, conducted both parts of the conversation digitally.
FT: Deutsche Bank Joins JPMorgan’s Crypto Payments Network
JPMorgan’s blockchain-based payments initiative has added Deutsche Bank as its latest member. The addition brings the total number of banks signed up for the Interbank Information Network (IIN) to 320. Announced in October 2017, IIN is built on Quorum, the ethereum-based blockchain network developed by the banking giant, and employs a stablecoin dubbed JPM Coin. JPMorgan said at the time that the platform would slash the time and costs required when resolving interbank payments delays.
Reuters: Wells Fargo tests cryptocurrency for internal transactions
The currency, called Wells Fargo Digital Cash, will be linked to the U.S. dollar and transferred using the bank’s distributed ledger technology to keep track of payments within its internal network. The system will allow the bank to bypass third parties in the asset transfer process saving costs and time. Wells Fargo is eliminating the intermediaries which can often extend the timeline to be able to do cross border money transfers. The fourth largest U.S. bank’s corporate clients will not have to make any changes to the way they interact with the bank since the currency will not be client-facing. The pilot will begin next year but the bank has tested the technology by moving money between Canada and the United States. Following the broader roll-out the company hopes to expand to multi-currency transfers. Blockchain technology has attracted billions of dollars in investments from banks and other companies. In February, JPMorgan Chase launched its own digital currency, also linked to the U.S. dollar, that allows its corporate clients to transfer funds instantly across its internal blockchain network.
Miller Lite’s Blockchain-Based Trivia Game Involves PayPal And A Cryptocurrency
Miller Lite jumped on the blockchain train last month, using the technology for its trivia game, made possible through a collaboration with startup Vatom Labs. The cell phone-based game rewards of-age customers at certain alcohol vending establishments for answering a number of trivia questions correctly. At face value, the effort reads like a simple marketing play. Under the hood, however, the game uses blockchain and a crypto token in an interesting fashion, employing the technology and asset to help verify participants and pay out winners of the game. In order to reach drinkers in the on-premise in a new and innovative way, Miller Lite and Vatom Labs partnered together to create Great Taste Trivia, a 12-question trivia game served to the mobile phones of legal-age drinkers in bars and restaurants across the country. If a player answers all 12 questions correctly, they [receive] a prize of $5 that can be used toward a Miller Lite.
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