Marco Polo Network Completes Pilot, Banks Make Crypto Moves, Bitcoin Futures Launch

In a press release published late last week, the Marco Polo Network announced the completion of a seven-week trial involving more than 70 companies across multiple industries and five continents to test the receivables financing (i.e., "factoring") solution enabled by the R3 Corda blockchain platform. According to the press release, a survey of project participants found that "100% of respondents believe that Marco Polo will accelerate and improve the receivables discounting process and reduce costs for both banks and corporates, with 75% believing this will happen within 5 years." Shortly after the press release, a global consulting firm announced that it had invested in TradeIX, a blockchain startup with a central role in the Marco Polo Network.