Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 10 January 2018
Quickly following on from yesterday’s (9 January) blockchain and Bitcoin round-up, here’s our latest distinct and succinct report. Features BNP Paribas Asset Management, Falcon Private Bank and the Gibraltar Blockchain Exchange.
BNP Paribas Asset Management has just revealed it completed a full end-to-end fund transaction test late last year with blockchain. The test used BNP Paribas Securities Services’ programme, Fund Link and FundsDLT, a blockchain-based decentralised platform for fund transaction processing, which has been developed with Fundsquare (a subsidiary of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange), InTech (a subsidiary of POST Group) and KPMG Luxembourg.
According to the gang, the test demonstrated that Fund Link can connect with other blockchains, “opening the door to a new model of interoperability”. The transaction included each part of the fund trade process, from delivery of the order to the processing of the trade. Fabrice Silberzan, chief operating officer, BNP Paribas AM, says investors will “benefit from reduced transaction time”, while the bank will “profit from a sleeker, more streamlined system underpinned by technology and relevant for all fund types and geographies”.
Zurich-based Falcon Private Bank is looking to wow the wealthtech world by offering its clients the chance to place their wealth originating from crypto assets and converted into fiat currency.
The bank says it applies required due diligence using specific tools to analyse the transaction history on the blockchain to ensure compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) laws and regulations. It adds that its auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers has reviewed the process. Last year, Falcon said it was the “first” Swiss private bank to provide blockchain asset management solutions for its clients through a new co-operation with crypto financial broker Bitcoin Suisse.
Rock it to them! The Gibraltar Blockchain Exchange (GBX) has announced its upcoming public token sale event starting on 7 February and concluding a week later. Tokens issued will be called Rock Tokens (RKT) – cool name. About 60 million RKT, equivalent to $6 million in total, will be issued.
As a subsidiary of the Gibraltar Stock Exchange (GSX), GBX says it aims to be one of the world’s first licensed and regulated token sale platform and digital asset exchange that is operated by a European Union (EU) regulated stock exchange. As reported in December, the Gibraltar Parliament unanimously passed a Bill for an Act to amend the Financial Services (Investment and Fiduciary Services) Act. The purpose was to prepare the legal basis for the introduction of a new distributed ledger technology (DLT) framework which came into effect on 1 January 2018 – and naturally GBX benefits from all that. Rules rule… which doesn’t happen often.
