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Bank of England Accelerates Work With Bitcoin

Adoption of Bitcoin and its underlying technology on various fronts has been on the rise in the past few months. Mainstream financial organizations are realizing how efficiently Blockchain Technology can provide them with transformative solutions. Consequentially, the growing adoption has resulted in the prices of Bitcoin breaking the two year highs in September. The recent organization to hop onto the Blockchain train is Bank of England. Let’s look into how Bank of England plans to define Blockchain innovation:

Bank of England to accelerate Blockchain work

blockchain_31Bank of England’s newly opened FinTech accelerator is seeking additional ways to explore blockchain tech. During an event in London, the chief cashier, Victoria Cleland, discussed the central bank’s efforts on enhancing applications. The plans centered on financial technology, including the founding of a startup accelerator focused on financial applications. During these projects, Bank of England is seeking to study concepts such as distributed ledger-based digital currency.  The organization is already looking to move beyond its currently disclosed projects.

Cleland said:

“[Distributed ledger technology] is still in its infancy, and there are numerous questions that need exploring. The Bank has already undertaken a proof-of-concept using this technology and we are looking for new opportunities through our FinTech accelerator.”

 

Hong Kong to set up Fintech Innovation Hub

A security guard walks past a directory board of Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) in Hong Kong December 20, 2012. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

Joining the list of Monetary authorities that are embracing blockchain, Hong Kong Monetary Authority has established a Fintech Innovation Hub.  A supervisory sandbox that will permit banks to conduct proof of concept trials would couple the Fintech Innovation hub. The major aim of the hub is to provide services with efficiency.  This move clearly highlights the country’s attempts to boost the development of Fintech in the financial services sector. In a speech at a summit in Hong Kong, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), Norman Chan, said that the Fintech Innovation Hub ‘allows regulators to provide early inputs to the trial works before the actual implementation.’ He also believes that while that this Fintech innovation hub would cater to small and big institutions alike. The central idea is to service the whole industry by providing technologies that are quick and collaborative.

Hence major monetary authorities are embracing the underlying technology for disruptive solutions. This adoption would lay the foundation for the nascent Bitcoin ecosystem. With increasing application of the currency and its driving technology, the prices would surely enjoy the positivity for some time to come.