Category: Economics

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Australia Economics Industries

ANZ, Westpac and CBA Switch To Blockchain To Ensure Bank Guarantees

ANZ Bank, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank have joined forces to found Lygon, a company that will switch traditional bank guarantees signed on paper for blockchain-based smart contracts. By vastly reducing the lease negotiation period between landlords and tenants and doing away with fraud, Lygon is on the way to becoming not only a staple of the market, but the way into the future.

Big League Shareholders Onboard

The company behind Westfield Sydney – the Scentre Group – has already invested in Lygon shares. Not keen on being left behind, the tech industry staple company known as IBM has also invested into the Lygon alliance.

Both of these companies are hoping to bring an end to the physical, signed guarantees used by clients in all industries, from construction to real estate.

ANZ’s Nigel Dobson had this to say about the formation of Lygon:

“Digitising the instrument will save commercial landlords onerous, operational overheads over the longer term.”

Following a test run with great results last year, the five companies involved have decided to take the plunge and put their plan into action. Lygon is currently looking for a chief executive as well as a small number of staff to run the platform, after which they plan on partnering with any banks and landlords who wish to join up.

Once this system becomes the norm in Australia, Lygon is planning to expand into New Zealand. If all goes as planned, IBM will use the success garnered so far to spread Lygon’s system to real estate markets worldwide.

Once it goes live this month, Lygon will become the first high profile case of blockchain use by banks in Australia.

Previously used mostly to store and transfer funds, this new alliance may lead to even more investments into blockchain technology.

Categories
Australia Blockchain Economics

Australian Grants Make RMIT A Powerhouse Of Blockchain Research

RMIT launched its Blockchain research division (BIH) in 2017 and has since become the alleged “first research centre on the social science of blockchain”. The funding for research undertaken at BIH shows no signs of slowing down. The potential to turn Australia into one of the leading world researchers, if not the principal research institute for Blockchain related technology increases every day.

Since February of 2020 alone, 6 million dollars have been invested in blockchain-related research at RMIT.

Julie Cogin, Professor, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice President, College of Business at RMIT states:

“Our academics are at the forefront of shaping the blockchain industry internationally, as well as preparing our students with the digital skills of tomorrow.”

Creators of the National Blockchain Roadmap of Australia, BIH are continuing their research at full speed. A recent speech delivered by the Institutes’ director, Jason Potts, indicates that their research may play a part in preventing the economic crisis from hitting Australia full force.

“COVID-19 has rapidly accelerated the shift from an industrial to a digital era. The new digital economy is more decentralised, making it harder to manage and monitor.”

Blockchain Use Cases Expand Exponentially

Elaborating on the need for expanded infrastructure development, Potts highlighted the importance of introducing a more robust approach to integrating blockchain technology into more meaningful use cases:

“We need digital infrastructure to match this move, and this is where platform technologies like blockchain come more into play. Blockchain can be a key part of identity management systems as it offers high transparency and traceability.”

RMIT’s research efforts are focused on leveraging the potential of blockchain technology to help build secure, adaptable economic systems that are resistant to the economic fallout of events such as the COVID-19 pandemic. In the future, blockchain technology could help prevent the spread of a virus by ensuring better contact and location training, as seen in South Korea and in some areas of Japan.

It could also assist in identifying hotspots by tracing the path followed by delivery trucks from farms and factories all the way to the stacked shelves of your local shop.

With the 2020 fiscal year ending for most companies within the next two months, it remains to be seen what technologies will be implemented by companies around the world to recoup the losses incurred during FY2020 – and what role Australian research will play in rebuilding the global economy.

Categories
Crypto News E-commerce Economics

Giants to Enter the E-commerce Cryptocurrency Space in 2021

There have been many rumours around e-commerce giants getting involved in the cryptocurrency space. From PayPal to Amazon and others, it seems e-commerce is the new frontier for blockchain technology. This is no surprise, as e-commerce always has been a major force for blockchain adoption, what we are beginning to see now is a new wave of mainstream adoption.

In my work as a Master of Financial Economics candidate I am thinking about money matters all the time and e-commerce is of particular importance today in the international economy. There’s no question that blockchain technology has huge implications for e-commerce. In 2020, it’s clear there are significant benefits to having cryptocurrency technology in the financial system.

What’s been less clear to many is how this will trickle through to the everyday consumers that will benefit from the technology. E-commerce is one simple way to see how. Cryptocurrency has the potential to take costs in e-commerce from dollars to cents. The maths behind this is simple, for every dollar we can reduce the cost by, we gain a dollar more for e-commerce purchases.

E-commerce is quickly becoming a staple in the economy, for millions of people ordering goods and services online has become commonplace. Given the savings that will be made using cryptocurrency it’s no surprise e-commerce giant Shopify is currently looking to participate in Facebook’s Libra project. Chinese fintech companies are hedging their bets too, with investments and partnerships within the cryptocurrency space.

All aboard the blockchain express

Imagine e-commerce as a train station, where millions of trains pass through everyday. Managing the flow of trains is a complex task, especially when you have multiple trains for each delivery.

Customer information, including shipping address, payment details and package logistics all require constant attention. This is likely why we are seeing e-commerce giants such as PayPal enter the cryptocurrency space — cryptocurrency simplifies the transaction process. Instead of having multiple trains running through the station for each purchase, blockchain technology can combine data and payment in the same transaction, essentially lengthening a single train of information.

Making sense of more than money Blockchains like Syscoin can combine data, money and transit information into one succinct format, as base layer for e-commerce transactions online. This platform is building toward a crucial layer for the creation of decentralized marketplaces, by equipping retailers with the tools to manage inventory and track shipments.

Additionally, public blockchain records allow open access to each transaction which will prevent discrepancies and delays by keeping sellers accountable. This has implications for preventing fraud, reducing the
number of lost of packages, and ultimately will reduce the cost of transactions.

This is only the beginning. Who knows, perhaps in the future we will be running space tourism flights on Ethereum smart contracts?