IBM wants to publish his own blockchain in the coming months
Close-up of Several Rusty Metallic Chain Left Wrapped Around a Wood Log With The Bark Partial Wearing Off. Image of: Horia Varlan via Flickr.com. License: Creative Commons
Slowly it gets official: The International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) has announced that it will soon publish its own blockchain. The modified Bitcoin blockchain, which has been developed for a year, is intended to secure online contracts of all kinds and thus provide a new infrastructure in particular. What is still missing so far is a currency.
As is well known, the motto of the industry for Bitcoin is: “Bitcon Pfui, Blockchain Hui”. The IBM company, which has been dealing with Bitcoin and Blockchain since 2013, is also no exception: “The blockchain, as a technology, is extremely interesting and fascinating,” says Arvind Krishna, Senior Vice President of IBM Research. The not pronounced part of the sentence says “Unlike Bitcoin, the blockchain is …”
IBM probably realized that money is too sensitive. Especially when it comes to a free, non-state money like Bitcoin. The risks of volatility and government regulation are simply too high for this. Revolutions may be sexy, but they are nothing beyond PR slogans, for which a large company is interested in. Instead, the IT group does what IT companies do-it uses new technologies for the sake of technology and maybe because there could be a market for it.
IBM has been researching the blockchain for more than a year. The group already announced in January to use the blockchain in adept technology for the Internet of Things. The new blockchain, which Wall Street Journal is now reporting, is an independent project. Above all, it should serve to secure and exchange contracts safely on the Internet. It would also be possible with this blockchain that banks manage bank-to-bank transactions or secure companies and banks and ensure international trade contracts and automatically carry out.
For this purpose, IBM built its own version of the Bitcoin blockchain, but the most important element for Bitcoin-the currency stake-is missing. The challenge for IBM is currently still to form a system in which everyone can participate while preventing or minimized at the same time spam. How exactly this should work is still unclear after the obvious and proven solution – a virtual currency – is probably out of the question. Instead, it is in the room whether the blockchain is not secured by a consortium by companies.
IBM wants to publish the code for the Blockchain Open Source. Like no second large technology company, the company shows interest in the blockchain and occurs publicly. Richard Gendal Brown is researching innovations in banking for IBM UK by the blockchain, for example. His Blig Gendal.ME is one of the most rapid info sources via the connection of Bitcoin, blockchain and finance.
IBM is also part of the British Innovate Finance initiative, which is warmly supported by Prime Minister David Cameron. Innovate Finance brings established financial actors, new start-ups and technology groups together to develop those financial innovations that Great Britain’s status as the world center of financial system also in 21. Century should be preserved. Among them are a number of Bitcoin or. Blockchain startups.
So while IBM is very open to the blockchain, financial innovations and open source, the company does not seem to be too much to keep of public mining and free currencies. The blockchain from IBM could thus be decisive for the further way of blockchain: IBM succeeds in removing the currency from the blockchain concept and thus becomes the blockchain-without currency into the new standard? Or will IBM fail because of the task, and future blockchains will also be connected to a currency that can be gemmed by everyone?
Hobby miners will hope for the second variant.