IBM ties up with EDB, MAS for blockchain innovation centre

Singapore

IBM has set up a blockchain innovation centre in Singapore in a unique collaboration with the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), with an early priority to build blockchain expertise in the city-state on trade finance processes, the technology firm said on Tuesday.

There has been much buzz over blockchain - a distributed ledger of transactions - that is the spine of technology powering the virtual currency bitcoin. Blockchain is so named because each digital "block" contains information of financial transactions - such as copies of invoices - which is linked in a virtual chain. Participating banks and other relevant institutions in the blockchain can then access the information on this ledger.