What’s the difference between a private and public blockchain?
Blockchain has potential applications in many industries, from accounting to agriculture. It’s essentially a distributed ledger, which records transactions between every user in the chain. There are different types of blockchain: some are open and public and some are private and only accessible to people who are given permission to use them. A public blockchain is an open network. Anyone can download the protocol and read, write or participate in the network. A public blockchain is distributed and decentralised. Transactions are recorded as blocks and linked together to form a chain. Each new block must be timestamped and validated by all the computers connected to the network, known as nodes, […]
ASX pushes back the start date for its blockchain
ASX has pushed back the “go live” date for its blockchain to clear and settle the Australian equities market by around six months, after market participants expressed concerns about meeting an ambitious timeline given the complexity of the technological change. Market players used a consultation process to express “a strong interest in better understanding the potential benefits that a DLT [distributed ledger technology]-based system can offer”, ASX said in a new “scope and implementation plan” for its replacement of the CHESS system. Brokers and investors want as much time as possible to get their heads around the technology, and to determine what investment spending will be required to connect with […]
Future Hub: ‘one-stop shop for blockchain expertise’
Australian technology company Lakeba Group’s blockchain division has set up Future Hub, “a one-stop shop for blockchain expertise,” according to Lakeba chief growth officer and Future Hub head Darren Younger. The idea behind Lakeba’s Future Hub is to combine the company’s technology skills with expertise from financial, legal and other relevant specialisms. A number of projects are already underway in various industries, said Younger, but not many are at the stage where the parties can be identified. Examples include financial services (using blockchain to avoid pay-slip fraud), health (attesting to the authenticity of laboratory results), agriculture (protecting data from IoT devices), supply chain (validating goods or services), energy (to provide […]
Australian National Blockchain will bring opportunities for disruptive startups, says Data61 senior research scientist
CSIRO’s Data61 data innovation group is collaborating with law firm Herbert Smith Freehills and technology giant IBM to build the Australian National Blockchain (ABN), a large-scale cross-industry platform for smart contracts. The ABN is intended to serve as a national infrastructure, allowing companies to join the network to share digitised contracts. Work is currently underway on a pilot, with the platform expected to be able to host live transactions by mid to late 2019. The decentralised nature of blockchain technology means, once the platform is available, there will be one version of a contract accessible to each involved party. Permission-based access is intended to allow data to be exchanged securely, […]
Grant Thornton support of Lakeba’s Future Hub consortium to help accelerate Blockchain Growth
Australian technology innovator Lakeba Group, and leading global independent assurance, tax and advisory firm Grant Thornton, have announced a new alignment that will see Grant Thornton’s technology industry team, support Lakeba’s Future Hub. Recognised for being one of the first technology companies in Australia to have live commercial blockchain implementations across a range of sectors, the vision of Lakeba’s Future Hub is to provide a one stop shop solution for Australian businesses looking to adopt blockchain solutions from conception, to development all the way through to tax, legal and regulatory compliance. “With the support of Grant Thornton’s technology industry team, the Future Hub will be greatly strengthened with the proven […]
RMIT Online moves to meet high demand for blockchain skills with two new Australian university first courses
New courses provide a deep dive into blockchain infrastructure, design and build teaching industry-relevant skills to give professionals and students future work opportunities. Designing Blockchain Solutions will help students further their understanding of the technology solutions through various blockchain platforms and Developing Blockchain Applications will teach students how to design blockchain infrastructure for their own business needs. RMIT’s first short course on blockchain, Developing Blockchain Strategy, launched 19 March and sold out globally within 48 hours. Created in partnership with Accenture, Stone & Chalk and Flex Dapps the courses are the only Australian university-backed courses and are part of RMIT Online’s short course portfolio. After the successful launch of Australia’s […]
‘Overwhelming’ response to World Bank’s blockchain bond: CBA
The world’s first public bond created and managed using only blockchain had support from seven investors, Commonwealth Bank of Australia the sole lead manager of the deal said on Friday, helping raise A$110 million ($80.48 million) for the World Bank. Commonwealth Bank (CBA) executive general manager James Wall said that the deal, designed to test how the technology might improve decades-old bond sales practices, had exceeded expectations and interest had been “overwhelming.” The American fund Northern Trust, three Australian state governments, local pension fund First State Super, and CBA were the investors in the deal, which is being viewed as an initial step in moving bond sales away from manual […]
Digital natives love the blockchain because they trust it
The younger ‘digital native’ generation may turn out to be blockchain’s driving force in years to come, as they grow to distrust centralised institutions and systems. That’s according to Dentacoin Foundation’s communications manager Donika Kraeva, who believes that there is a direct correlation between Generation Z’s lack of trust and high adoption of crypto assets and blockchain. Kraeva says that blockchain is a safe, reliable, and efficient way of storing value without any involvement from third parties. Apparently digital natives’ don’t like interference, especially from governments and banks. Digital trust is also more important than ever. Blockchain, Kraeva adds, provides digital scarcity and digital trust worldwide. Blockchain also provides online […]
