Russian and Chinese central securities depositories team up on fintech and blockchain

The central securities depositories (CSD) of Russia and China have signed a memorandum of understanding to facilitate cooperation in fintech sphere, particularly using blockchain technology in the post-trade sector. According to the official announcement, National Settlement Depository (NSD), Russian CSD, signed a memorandum of understanding with China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation Limited (CSDC), China’s CSD providing services to the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

Cambridge University launches global blockchain benchmarking study

The Cambridge University’s Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) has announced the launch of first Global Blockchain Benchmarking Study that aims to present a global empirical outline of how blockchain and cryptocurrencies are used today.

R3 trials Ripple’s blockchain technology for interbank cross-border payments

Financial innovation firm R3, along with twelve of its blockchain consortium member banks, recently trialed Ripple’s distributed financial technology and the potential for its digital asset to scale liquidity and reduce the costs and inefficiencies of interbank cross-border payments. The trial was carried out over the Ripple network in R3’s Lab and Research Centre. The consortium member banks involved in the trial include Barclays, BMO Financial Group, CIBC, Intesa Sanpaolo, Macquarie Group, National Australia Bank (NAB), Natixis, Nordea, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), Santander, Scotiabank, and Westpac Banking Corporation.

Airbitz becomes first company to leverage JOBS Act using bitcoin

Airbitz, the San Diego-based bitcoin wallet provider and creator of the Edge Security SDK, today announced the launch of its equity crowdfunding campaign powered by Wefunder. According to the official announcement, Airbitz is the first company to use Wefunder’s BitPay integration and will enable anyone from cryptocurrency enthusiasts to mainstream investors to support companies using bitcoin. This will be in full SEC compliance supported by Title III of the JOBS Act.

Chain's distributed ledger goes live on Microsoft Azure

Chain, a San Francisco-based blockchain technology company, has joined Microsoft Azure ecosystem, which will allow developers to install Chain Core (Chain’s distributed ledger) in Azure or locally to start or join a blockchain network, build financial applications, and access in-depth technical documentation and tutorials.

Digital Currency/Blockchain research studies:

9 out of 10 banks in U.S., U.K., and Canada exploring blockchain for payments sector: Accenture

Conferences/ Events:

Chamber of Digital Commerce to host Smart Contracts Symposium in December

First pharma blockchain conference to be held in New Jersey

Important deals, partnerships, and more:

MGT and Bitmain sign Letter of Intent to launch McAfee bitcoin mining pool

ABN AMRO and Netherland Delft University of Technology partner to develop blockchain applications

Blockchain startup Synereo raises $4.7m in latest funding

Synechorn, ConsenSys and BlockApps collaborate for blockchain applications in financial services

IBM and FreshTurf work with blockchain and Bluemix for storage lockers network

R3 blockchain consortium adds credit card company Synchrony Financial

Hyperledger adds 10 new members to support open source distributed ledger framework

Uphold acquires bitcoin startup Bitnet

Blockchain startup Coins rakes in $5m in series A funding

SBI Securities teams up with IBM to test blockchain for bond trading platform