Blockchain Announcements From Traditional Financial Institutions And Emerging Platforms

On Monday, one of the largest banks in the world announced that over the course of 2018 it settled $250 billion in foreign exchange trades using an internally developed blockchain platform that, among other benefits, allowed the bank to verify settlement without external confirmation. Meanwhile, a major Swiss investment bank announced that it is launching a cryptocurrency custody service targeted at institutional market participants. In the commodities markets, the blockchain-based commodities trading platform Vakt, which runs on the Quorum blockchain, has added a major U.S.-based multinational energy company to its platform and industry consortium. On Jan. 10, cryptoasset index provider Bitwise Asset Management filed a registration statement with the SEC seeking approval for a physically held bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). According to a press release, the proposed ETF will differ from prior ETF proposals because it will use regulated third-party custodians to