PWC Archives

VeChain Joins PwC’s blockchain Accelerator in Hong Kong

Posted on May 21, 2017 | by [email protected]

PwC and BitSE held a signing ceremony on Monday in Hong Kong with Raymund Chao, PwC Greater China Chairman, and DJ Qian, CEO of BitSE and VeChain, to make the agreement official. A second signing ceremony was held in Singapore on May 17 with Mr. Qian and Yeoh Oon Jin, PwC Singapore’s Executive Chairman.

“In the journey of a joint business relationship between PwC and BitSE, we are delighted to achieve this significant milestone together with PwC. VeChain S.E.A, a subsidiary of BitSE, will focus on accelerating VeChain business expansion in Southeast Asia,” said DJ Qian, a former IBM executive who left the multinational technology firm in 2013 to join the blockchain industry.

“Besides technology, industry know-how and market experiences are equally important to apply blockchain technology. We share the same vision with PwC to improve the efficiency and lower the cost of trust in supply chain management. I believe this in-depth cooperation will definitely accelerate the transformation of supply chain management.”

VeChain, which launched in November 2016, is an enterprise software designed to create, manage, maintain and update shared data about products in the supply chain. VeChain is a state-of-the-art collaboration platform, making the supply chain more transparent and solving important problems that exist in the modern supply chain. So far, this platform has already been adopted by several established companies as part of their production system in industries such as luxury, fashion, logistics, pharmaceuticals, automotive, food safety, and wine and spirits.

PwC’s incubator program will help VeChain accelerate its deployment in Hong Kong and South East Asia, as well as offer the blockchain startup strategic advice. PwC will also provide more resources, industry know-how and blockchain research to improve the design of VeChain and solve even more problems than the platform already does while expanding into more industries and onboarding more clients.

“Embracing advanced technology for growth becomes the top priority for many business sectors,” says Mr. Chao. “Innovative applications and solutions could improve the effectiveness of supply chain, brand reputation, and even customer experience. We are excited about the joint initiative between PwC and BitSE and the VeChain services we provide that could help our clients achieve greater success. I envisage our services will create an impact and deliver on our firm’s purpose of building trust in society and solve important problems.”

Mr. Oon Jin added:

“Disruption is here to stay in our current volatile business environment and it brings both opportunities and challenges. We firmly believe that it is through embracing disruptive change that allows innovation to flourish. This is an exciting milestone for us, and we are confident that together with VeChain we will bring more value to the marketplace through collaborative innovation.”

PwC’s global network features more than 223,000 professionals across industries. BitSE’s more than 70 employees worldwide and over 50 professional blockchain application developers make it one of the largest blockchain-focused startups. The two companies partnered one year ago to promote blockchain adoption in Asia and around the world.

About BitSE

BitSE (short for Bit Service Expert) provides blockchain-enabled, enterprise-grade software infrastructures tested and documented for enterprise. As a Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) company, BitSE lowers the costs of doing business. The company was established in 2013. As one of the first blockchain technology research teams in China, BitSE has more than 70 employees worldwide, including more than 50 professional blockchain application developers working to implement digital asset and blockchain technology designed for enterprises. BitSE’s blockchain-enabled technology is transforming enterprise operations in the same way that the Internet changed content creation. BitSE’s open-source, collaborative software approach ensures the transparency, longevity, and interoperability that blockchain-enabled technologies need.

About PwC – Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Singapore

PwC China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Singapore work together on a collaborative basis, subject to local applicable laws. Collectively, we have around 800 partners and 20,000 people in total.

PwC provide organisations with the professional service they need, wherever they may be located. Our highly qualified, experienced professionals listen to different points of view to help organisations solve their business issues and identify and maximise the opportunities they seek. Our industry specialisation allows us to help co-create solutions with our clients for their sector of interest.

PwC offices are located in these cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Shenyang, Dalian, Tianjin, Jinan, Qingdao, Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Wuhan, Changsha, Xi’an, Chengdu, Chongqing, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Macau, Taipei, Chungli, Hsinchu, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung and Singapore.

‘Big 4’ step up the Bitcoin game, EY accepts Bitcoin in Switzerland

Posted on December 5, 2016 | by [email protected]

Ever since ‘Internet of Things’ has proved itself as a prudent innovation, Big four firms have their eyes set on these innovations. The consultancy divisions of these firms are closely monitoring IOT to evaluate the possible investment opportunities for their clients. This is evident from the PwC report on IOT, released in mid-2015 exploring the unlimited possibilities and open markets for application. After the advent of Bitcoin, Blockchain technology has received no different treatment. The cryptocurrency and its underlying technology have received the same amount of attention owing to its disruptive nature. Pretty recently after Deloitte, EY made a move in Bitcoin. Let’s look into the details of how this would impact Bitcoin:

Deloitte launched ATM in September:

On Wednesday, September 7^th this year, ‘Big Four’ accounting firm Deloitte has opened its first operational bitcoin ATM. The opening was quiet and took place in the downtown Toronto offices of Deloitte’s Rubix blockchain division. The bitcoin transaction machine, or BTM, is now all set to exchange digital currency for Canadian dollars. The move was intends to make Deloitte employees well acquainted with Bitcoin and Blockchain. Owing to the firm’s interest and belief in the cryptocurrency and its underlying technology, Deloitte has taken the first step towards it by this move.

EY joins the band wagon:

In a surprising move that will completely boost adoption, EY announced that their Swiss firm will soon begin accepting bitcoin. The firm also installed a Bitcoin ATM (BTM) in their main office building, next to the Hardbrücke train station in Zurich. The BTM is publicly accessible to exchange Swiss Francs for Bitcoins. The firm also gave away bitcoin wallets to all of their employees. The effort is in the direction of completely ‘digitizing’ their operations to suit the pace of the changing world.

Marcel Stalder, CEO of EY Switzerland said –

“It is important to us that everybody gets on board and prepares themselves for the revolution set to take place in the business world through blockchains, smart contracts and digital currencies.”

The impact on adoption:

Switzerland has a very amicable environment for the growth of cryptocurrency. With a well-developed bank and technological infrastructure, going cashless can definitely be the next objective for Swiss folk. KPMG has recently remarked about the same in their report “Shaping Switzerland’s digital future”. For Bitcoin, this would be a very impactful move as this would accelerate mainstream adoption. With auditing firms accepting the currency, the solution to the problem of auditing Bitcoin related transactions would become apparent.

Brazil in Deep Trouble: Bitcoin and Blockchain are what Brazil needs right now?

Posted on October 12, 2016 | by [email protected]

Recession stricken Brazil is the world’s seventh largest economy with a population of 207.8 million and GDP of US$1.775 trillion. Brazil’s worst recession in recent history continued as rising unemployment and deepening political turmoil dragged the economy into further decline. In the second quarter, Brazil’s economy contracted 3.8%, after shrinking 5.4% in the first three months of the year. It’s the longest recession since the 1930s for Brazil, Latin America’s largest economy.

The situation went from bad to worse as the President Dilma Rousseff was impeached owing to large scale corruption. While the proceedings in Brazil are currently bleak, let’s look into the possibility of Bitcoin adoption setting things right:

Bitcoin adoption currently:

The Bitcoin adoption in Brazil has been on the rise owing to the varying economic conditions. The recession cycle followed the pattern where Brazilian Real appreciated first and then went on to depreciate starting a probable hyperinflationary cycle. During the course of this pattern, there has been a significant uptick in the Bitcoin trading volume from Brazil. The dynamics of the economy and exports prompted people to look for alternatives, which turned out to be Bitcoin.

Brazil is the largest exporter of soft commodities in the world. During the deflationary part of the cycle, the Brazilian Real appreciated due to significant capital inflows. For major exporters, this was a setback as they wouldn’t be getting more local currency in exchange for their goods. Hence an alternative, they turned to receive payment in Bitcoin to be later converted into local currency when Real depreciated.

How Bitcoin can be a solution:

For an economy that is struggling, people’s faith in its currency fading, an alternative system has to be opted. Just like Government bonds where the Government backs fiat currencies, the central bank can alternatively back Bitcoin based assets. What makes this even more feasible is the transparency the underlying technology provides in such arrangements.

This decentralized system can be in place till the economy achieves stability. Later the asset holders can cash in for local currency. These assets unlike bonds can be transacted peer to peer without any processing fee.

How Blockchain adoption would be a relief:

The settlement time in Brazilian market is abnormally slow. The average settlement period for credit card transactions in Brazil is D + 28 which is very slow compared to western markets. Slow settlement times amount to loss of value of transactions due to holding up of the money. This would mean the loss of investment opportunities in time. A study by PWC revealed that Brazil has over 22 million [small and medium-sized enterprises] and micro-businesses. The mobile penetration is upwards of 132%, which has created a fertile ground for mobile payments.

Hence Blockchain based settlements which are quicker and more transparent are exactly what Brazil is looking for. Fortunately there has been significant development on this end with major banks and Mastercard trying to implement Blockchain based transactions in Brazil.