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ViaBTC Announces Shutdown of Crypto Mining Contract Market

Jan 8, 2018 at 19:45 UTC by Stan Higgins via Coindesk

Chinese bitcoin mining pool ViaBTC has announced that it will close its marketplace for mining contracts this week, a move that comes amid new reports of a ban by authorities in the country.

In a Jan. 8 statement, ViaBTC said that it would shut down the market – through which users can purchase contracts entitling them to a certain amount of hashing power (and the associated cryptocurrency payouts) – on Jan. 10. The reason: the company wants to “control speculation and protect the interests of our investors.”

Please finish all your cloud mining contract trading ASAP. Thank you all for your support,” ViaBTC added.

ViaBTC first launched its cloud mining service in November 2016.

The closure comes months after ViaBTC shut down its cryptocurrency exchange in response to a crackdown by Chinese authorities on the country’s exchange ecosystem, a process that began just after the beginning of 2016. Officials also moved to prohibit the use of initial coin offerings (ICOs) in September.

Yet while there’s no clear indication that the two events are related, the latest announcement follows new reports that officials in China are seeking a gradual shutdown of domestic bitcoin mining operations.

According to documents circulated over the weekend and attributed to the Leading Group of Internet Financial Risks Remediation, a Chinese regulator, officials want to curb support for local miners, calling for measures around power and land use. One of the documents requested that officials prepare plans for such a process by the 10th.

A representative from the agency’s Xinjiang office confirmed the documentation’s veracity to Quartz but declined to comment further.

As further illustrated by Bloomberg, miners in China are shifting their footprint away from the country, eyeing new locations in Europe and North America. The news service reported that officials in China want to enact an “orderly” shutdown of the mining ecosystem.

China flags image via Shutterstock

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Australia’s CommBank Plans to Issue a Bond on the Blockchain

Dec 6, 2017 at 13:00 UTC by Sujha Sundararajan via Coindesk

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has revealed a plan to issue a bond over a blockchain system, possibly as soon as next year.

Though few details were revealed, Sophie Gilder, CommBank’s head of blockchain, said that the bond would be transferred and paid for over a blockchain-based system in collaboration with an unnamed major world issuer, according to ZDNet report.

In comments made during the GMIC Sydney conference Tuesday, Gilder said that bank has been exploring blockchain use cases for more than four years and has completed 25 proofs-of-concept and trials aimed to address real-world business issues.

CommBank, she continued, is eyeing the technology for equities, bonds, syndicated loans and other applications where it considers there are high levels of “friction.”

Gilder stated:

We think the platform we have built can make this more efficient.”

Earlier this year, as reported by CoinDesk, CommBank announced that it is developing a blockchain-based system for the sale of government bonds. The concept was tested by the Queensland Treasury Corporation, which acts as the Australian state’s central financing authority.

Other institutions are also moving to adopt blockchain technology for bond issuance.

This October, Russia’s National Securities Depository said it had issued its first-ever live bond using blockchain. The financial instrument, a $10-million bond for shares in Russian telecom giant MegaFon, used smart contracts and the open-source Hyperledger Fabric blockchain.

And, in late 2016, French bank BNP also announced that it was exploring the technology for use in distributing instruments known as “mini-bonds.”

Commonwealth Bank image via Shutterstock

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Bitcoin Can Pay Your Traffic Fines in South Africa

Dec 5, 2017 by Darryn Pollock via Cointelegraph

A traffic fines administrator in South Africa has opened up the opportunity for their clients to pay outstanding fines in Bitcoin. The decision by Cornelia van Niekerk has been sparked by the massive mainstream drive Bitcoin recently felt, sparking many businesses into action to adopt.

However, her company, Fines4U, are not adopting Bitcoin in the more traditional sense which has been seen in Japan in the likes, there is no POS system or direct QR payments, rather, this is an attempt by a business to accumulate Bitcoin without direct investment.

Van Niekerk’s company represents a new wave of individual adoption where users are thinking out of the box in order to be a part of the cryptocurrency flood, hoping not to be left behind.

Fixing that fine

Fines4U operates as an intermediary which helps companies and individuals pay fines, accepting the money for the fine and making the payment to the government agency involved. Van Niekerk says she manages traffic fines for about 500 companies and about 8,000 individuals.

Van Niekerk decided, after entering the Bitcoin market in her personal capacity in June, to try and up the ante in order to accumulate more Bitcoin, allowing it to be a payment method for her services.

A different type of adoption

There was a time where, when Bitcoin was much closer aligned to being a digital currency, that adoption of the digital currency entailed POS systems being integrated into businesses and retailers. However, things are evolving as the currency heads towards being more of an asset.

Now, with the hype at an all-time high, and a wave of individual adoption occurring, those who have been dabbling in the digital currency want to take a bigger plunge. Van Niekerk’s plan is to accept Bitcoin, store it as an asset, and pay the fines as part of her service with the local currency taken from the business.

She will determine the outstanding amount of the client’s traffic fines, give them the amount in Bitcoin, valid for a limited period.

She will receive the payment via her own Luno wallet and deposit the fiat on behalf of the client for the payment of the fine.

Growing demand

When Van Niekerk made the announcement she said the response was overwhelming, but it was not that there was a flood of payments in Bitcoin, more a thirst for knowledge from her clients.

“I deal with many clients on a daily basis, many of whom are big businesses. Suddenly everybody wants to get more information from me about Bitcoin,” Van Niekerk said.

There is also a similar instance where a doctor in South Africa has been doing something similar, accepting Bitcoin for his services, and then depositing the money from his own pocket into the business.

He does not actively promote it as a payment method and has over the period had four to five clients paying him in Bitcoin.

Bitcoin as a payment method is dying

Despite more and more people trying to get involved with Bitcoin, doing what they can to receive it, Werner van Rooyen from South African Exchange Luno, says that the use of Bitcoin for payments is actually going down.

“Most people see it more as an asset class and if you really believe it’s an asset, you think it might be worth more in future, you don’t want to dispose of it,“ he explained.

He says the other reason for the relative decline in payments using Bitcoin is that “the Bitcoin network has more transactions and users than it can currently properly handle, so the cost of sending Bitcoin and making a payment has become slower and expensive to the point where it isn’t a viable method to pay for your cup of coffee.”

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Bitcoin Mining Uses More Power Than Most African Countries

Nov 17, 2017 at 04:00 UTC by Gareth Jenkinson via Cointelegraph

Mining is the lifeblood of Bitcoin but like any industry, it consumes power to unlock the precious virtual currency.

There are massive mining operations around the world and they are bound to be more popping up in the next few years as Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies continue their path into mainstream acceptance.

As it stands, Bitcoin mining is a lucrative operation. With the price over $11,000, there is a lot of money to be made. Like any factory, mining rigs use electricity. A lot of electricity.

According to UK based company Power Compare, the surge in Bitcoin price has directly influenced the demand on power supply.

Citing Digiconomist, the combination of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash’s estimated annual electricity consumption has climbed to 31 terawatt-hours. They also estimate that Bitcoin mining generates $9.7 bln a year.

They have developed their own Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index, which has provided the most recent data driving these insights.

Key Network Statistics

Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash mining is using a total of 0.13 percent of the global energy consumption – which ranks the combined mining operation as the 61st highest power consumer in the World.

Interestingly, but not surprisingly, the power consumption of Bitcoin mining in November increased by nearly 30 percent – no doubt linked to the massive bull run.

If the demand for electricity caused by mining continues keeps at its current rate – mining will consume all of the world’s electricity supply by 2020.

As it stands, Bitcoin mining uses more power than most African countries – as shown in Power Compare’s illustration below.

Bitcoin map

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South Korea Is Investigating Methods to Tax Bitcoin Users

Dec 4, 2017 by Joseph Young via Cointelegraph

Kim Dong-yeon, South Korea’s deputy prime minister and the minister of strategy and finance, revealed earlier this week that the government is investigating various methods to better regulate the local Bitcoin market and tax Bitcoin users accordingly.

While the South Korean government and its local financial authorities are actively discussing the possibility of enforcing a policy on Bitcoin taxation, at a press conference, Deputy Prime Minister Kim stated that the government does not intend to include any Bitcoin taxation policy in 2018’s amendment of the tax law.

South Korea likely to follow Japan’s taxation policy

Since the beginning of this year, the South Korean government has introduced light regulatory frameworks for Bitcoin businesses and investors that are structurally similar to that of the policies imposed by the Japanese government and the Japan Financial Service Agency (FSA).

Currently, cryptocurrency exchanges and trading platforms have the freedom to operate in both regions, with minimal government interference and oversight.

As a part of a major initiative to facilitate the growth of the Japanese cryptocurrency market, the Japanese government eliminated the eight percent consumption tax on Bitcoin in July, with the intent of sustaining the rapid growth rate of the Japanese Bitcoin industry and growing demand from the traditional finance sector.

It is likely that the South Korean government will implement a similar Bitcoin tax policy to that of the Japanese government, given that most of the regulatory frameworks provided by the South Korean financial authorities in 2017 focused on providing freedom and flexibility to businesses, like Japan.

Discussion on centralization of trading

Several agencies, Bitcoin communities, and government officials have expressed their concerns with the centralization of trading within South Korea. Bithumb, South Korea’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency trading platform behind Bitfinex, accounts for nearly 70 percent of South Korea’s Bitcoin trades.

South Korea’s Ministry of Strategy and Finance will explore potential methods of distributing cryptocurrency and Bitcoin trading volumes across a wider range of cryptocurrency trading platforms within the market.

Banks are testing Bitcoin

Additionally, some of the country’s largest and most influential financial institutions such as Shinhan, South Korea’s second-largest commercial bank, have already begun testing Bitcoin wallet and vault systems, with a long-term strategy to provide a safe and insured platform with which Bitcoin users can store funds.

Shinhan emphasized that a vault service for Bitcoin users, especially large-scale investment firms and institutional investors, is necessary, given that Bithumb was hacked twice this year.

However, it is also important to consider the structure of the Bitcoin network and its decentralized nature. Because the Bitcoin network exists on a peer-to-peer protocol, the safest way to store Bitcoin is on non-custodial wallet platforms, wherein the user obtains absolute control of private keys and funds.

Overall, it is highly optimistic that the South Korean government has started to acknowledge the rapid growth rate of Bitcoin and drafted several solutions to standardize the South Korean Bitcoin industry.

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Bitcoin Futures Trading is Coming to Nasdaq, the World’s Second Largest Stock Market

 Nov 29, 2017 by Joseph Young via Cryptocoinsnews

The $6.831 trillion stock market Nasdaq, the world’s second-largest stock exchange behind New York Stock Exchange, will enable bitcoin futures trading by mid-2018.

Nasdaq and Cantor to Integrate Bitcoin by First Half of 2018

A Wall Street Journal report revealed that Nasdaq and Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. will list bitcoin futures within the first half of 2018. The two financial institutions are “rushing” the integration of bitcoin given the cryptocurrency’s recent surge in price, to $11,441.

According to sources familiar with the Nasdaq’s plans for a bitcoin futures exchange launch, Nasdaq’s bitcoin futures and contracts will be listed on Nasdaq Futures. Through that, investors in the traditional finance sector and stock brokerages will be able to engage in bitcoin trading.

In an interview with WSJ, Cantor, a major US-based financial firm, also revealed that it intends to launch bitcoin futures and derivatives on its flagship exchange.

Shawn Matthews, chief executive of Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., stated that cryptocurrencies are a new asset class that “is not going away,” and that bitcoin is here to stay.

He stated:

The asset class is not going away. If you look at the next level, it will be the institutions coming in and being larger participants in the marketplace, especially as liquidity gets better.

Cantor’s futures exchange has already been approved by the US Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and considering that CFTC has approved several bitcoin futures listings including the bitcoin options, derivatives, and futures exchange of LedgerX, regulatory hurdles of Cantor in listing bitcoin are expected to be minimal.

Nasdaq’s Bitcoin Integration Will Trigger Other Exchanges to Adopt Bitcoin

Other major exchanges including Nodal Exchange are actively investigating the potential of listing bitcoin futures on their regulated exchanges and trading platforms.

John D’Agostino, a former Nymex executive, told WSJ that every department of every regulated exchange is considering listing bitcoin futures, and that the number of bitcoin futures exchanges will drastically increase throughout 2018, as leading exchanges and markets such as CBOE, CME, Nasdaq, and Cantor move to implement bitcoin.

Every research department of every regulated exchange is saying, ‘Can we do this?. The majority of costs associated with that are marketing. If people want to trade this thing, why wouldn’t you?. This is a gift from the heavens,” said D’Agostino.

In early 2017, the integration of bitcoin futures could have required marketing to a certain extent to attract investors within the traditional finance sector. Currently, the mere act of integrating bitcoin is an impeccable marketing strategy. Some reports revealed that if multi-billion dollar companies like Overstock switch their businesses to cryptocurrency-focused ventures, they are likely to see 70 to 100 percent increase in sales and market valuation.

Given the rapid increase in the mainstream adoption of bitcoin and the rise in demand for cryptocurrencies, every exchange in the US and in the global finance market is planning to integrate bitcoin in the short-term. Nasdaq’s listing of bitcoin futures will trigger more exchanges to pursue the path of bitcoin futures in the upcoming months.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

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Japan’s BitFlyer Launches Bitcoin Exchange in US Market

Nov 28, 2017 at 16:50 UTC by Stan Higgins via Coindesk

Japanese bitcoin exchange bitFlyer has officially launched in the US after receiving approval from regulators like the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).

Announced today, the move concludes a private beta that saw the exchange working with 2,000 initial users. The official launch also comes months after bitFlyer first revealed its intention to open its doors in the US. At the time, the startup said it had obtained permission to operate in 34 states.

As part of today’s launch, bitFlyer revealed that it had been granted a BitLicense from regulators in New York. Formalized in 2015, the BitLicense framework was an early effort to oversee companies working with cryptocurrencies in the US.

BitFlyer is proud to have been granted a BitLicense to do business in the state of New York,” CEO Yuzo Kano said in a statement. “This is a nod of approval from one of the most influential state financial services regulators in the nation.”

Though the exchange will initially allow for only bitcoin trading, bitFlyer indicated that it would move to add support for additional cryptocurrencies over time.

Trading data image via Shutterstock

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Bitcoin Price Tops $10,000 on Korean Exchanges

Nov 27, 2017 at 15:03 UTC by Stan Higgins via Coindesk

The price of bitcoin is trading above $10,000 at several South Korea-based bitcoin exchanges, market data reveals.

On Bithumb – the region’s largest exchange by trade volume – bitcoin is trading at roughly $10,052. On exchanges Coinone and Korbit, the cryptocurrency is trading at around 10,979,500 KRW ($10,108) and 10,960,500 KRW ($10,047), respectively.

By contrast, the majority of the world’s bitcoin exchanges are seeing prices between $9,500 and $9,700, according to data from CoinMarketCap.com. CoinDesk’s Bitcoin Price Index (BPI) is reporting a press-time average of $9,624.90, representing a nearly $300 gain since the day’s open.

The climb above the $10,000 level on those exchanges would seem to add fuel to speculation that markets worldwide could push above this threshold. Bitcoin has already seen significant price gains in recent days, rising past $9,000 for the first time over the weekend.

Those gains – as well as ones seen with other cryptocurrencies – have resulted in the overall market capitalization rising above $300 billion for the first time.

Korean won image via Shutterstock

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$9,060: Bitcoin Price Achieves New All-Time High, Moving Closer to $10,000

by Joseph Young via Cryptocoinsnews

 

The bitcoin price has achieved a new all-time high on November 26 at $9,060, moving closer to the $10,000 region.

bitcoin price

$10,000 Interim Target of Prominent Analysts Realistic

Earlier this year, highly regarded investors and financial analysts including RT’s Max Keiser and billionaire hedge investor Mike Novogratz established the interim price target of bitcoin at $10,000.

In an interview with Binary District, Keiser further emphasized that in 2018, the bitcoin price could move closer to the $50,000 mid-term target, as tens of billions of institutional money flows into the bitcoin market.

Bitcoin only has to grab a few % points of the global multi-hundred trillion investment market to realize a market cap of $1 trillion and beyond,” said Keiser.

Over the past 12 months, bitcoin has shown strong resilience against the criticism and baseless condemnation from the traditional finance sector. Several public figures such as JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon falsely accused bitcoin of being a fraud, with the intent of degrading bitcoin that has become a competition for the global banking system.

However, despite the harsh criticism from Dimon, it has been revealed that JPMorgan traders have traded bitcoin since September through Sweden’s Nordic Nasdaq, and will continue trading bitcoin futures contracts upon CME Group’s December 11 launch of a bitcoin futures exchange.

Keiser emphasized that the public and general consumers are beginning to understand the advantages and merits of a decentralized financial network like bitcoin, and the deceptive nature of banks. This year alone, JPMorgan was fined $12 billion for mortgage fraud, and was cracked down by the Swiss financial authority FINMA for money laundering.

No bank in the world is innocent. Anyone who harbours hope that someday we may be free from these rentier, war-prison-casino industrial psychopaths at banks should take an interest in Bitcoin and crypto,” Keiser explained.

Liquidity of Bitcoin is Increasing

In less than two weeks, the price of bitcoin has increased from less than $7,800 to $9,060. Throughout the surge, the daily trading volume of bitcoin has increased significantly, from around $2 billion to $4.6 billion. Currently, bitcoin is substantially more liquid than the most liquid stock on earth that is Apple, and process more trades than major stock markets such as South Korea’s KOSDAQ.

In the upcoming weeks, as $95 billion hedge fund Man Group and other major financial institutions like JPMorgan engage in bitcoin trading through strictly regulated exchanges, the price of bitcoin will highly likely surpass $10,000 before the end of 2017.

In October, Novogratz noted that a “herd of institutional investors” is coming to the cryptocurrency market. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated that $10 billion of institutional money is awaiting to be invested in bitcoin, and most of the funds are likely to be transferred to the bitcoin market by mid-December.

As such, Wall Street analysts and financial firms such as StandPoint increased their interim price target of bitcoin from $10,000 to $14,000. “There have been many positive developments during the last five months and a few of the obstacles that were in Bitcoin’s way have been knocked down,” Ronnie Moas, founder of Standpoint Research, wrote.

Featured image from Shutterstock

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Confusion and Euphoria As Bitcoin Cash Surges Past $30 Billion

 UTC by Pete Rizzo via Coindesk

 

BITCOIN CASH IS BITCOIN NOW.

Issued by Li Ang, head of China-based bitcoin mining outfit Canoe Pool, the proclamation may not be distinguishable from typical cryptocurrency banter. However, the difference this time around is the context.

No idle statement, Ang’s comment comes amid what can only be characterized as one of the biggest migrations of capital yet seen in the nascent asset class. Billions are on the move in the crypto markets, and it’s plainly observable where the funds are headed.

After hitting a record high above $800 on Friday, the price of bitcoin cash, the alternative cryptocurrency forked from the bitcoin blockchain in August, has doubled within 24 hours, hitting a high of $1,856 according to figures from data provider CoinMarketCap. At that price, bitcoin cash is now valued at more than $30 billion, passing ethereum for second-place standing in the market.

The move follows the sudden decision this week by a group of businesses and mining pools to suspend an effort to change the rules of the bitcoin software. Called Segwit2x, or simply “2x” by some, the effort would have increased bitcoin’s block size – one way by which its transaction capacity can be measured.

But while bitcoin’s developers and technologists lauded the suspension, miners and entrepreneurs lamented what they described to CoinDesk as a decision that would inspire others to migrate to blockchains more accommodating to their ideas and ideals. And if it was unclear at the time which alternatives would win favor, bitcoin cash is already proving the primary beneficiary.

Early and active in migrating support appears to be bitcoin’s miners.

According to data from Fork.lol, at roughly 4:30 UTC on Sunday the total amount of mining power backing the bitcoin cash blockchain surpassed that of the bitcoin blockchain.

When asked about the move Jiang Zhuoer, founder of bitcoin mining pool BTC.Top, said simply that “2x fans” are moving both funds and mining hardware to bitcoin cash.

“BTC is going to die,” Zhuoer said. Hapio Yang, CEO of mining pool operator ViaBTC, responded similarly, indicating he believes that businesses and investors are now migrating funds to bitcoin cash.

“I think more and more bitcoin holders are starting to understand what is the real bitcoin,” he said via WeChat.

Doom sellers

Indeed, spurred by a sudden change in market outlook, bitcoin cash supporters appeared emboldened in their remarks. No doubt part of the equation is the soaring valuation of the protocol, which after debuting at $4 billion in August, hasn’t exactly solve some of its more pressing open questions.

Still, Jake Smith, general manager of cryptocurrency web portal Bitcoin.com, owned by investor and block size increase advocate Roger Ver, doubled down on the idea that the new investment dollars represent more than a speculative migration in the market soon to pass.

Smith noted that with the price boost bitcoin cash’s value proposition can only now be strengthened by what he categorized as its ultimate performance increases over the bitcoin blockchain.

“I think a positive feedback loop has been created. This is waking people up to the shaky foundations BTC is built on,” he said.

Smith went so far as to describe the typical doomsday situation predicted by those supporting larger blocks – that bitcoin’s transaction backlog will continue to grow, its transactions will become more expensive, and that these two factors will decrease user experience and force users to migrate.

Other supporters like bitcoin cash developer Juan Garavaglia chalked up the day’s price movements to “better planning” by those using the protocol.

“Bitcoin Core is unable to execute, has a poor roadmap [and is] disconnected with market needs,” Garavaglia said. “We can execute, we have smooth coordination with key market actors and we address market needs.”

Skeptical voices

If those boasts sound familiar, so too was the rhetoric from those who were more apt to read the bitcoin cash price movements with more incredulity.

Jack Liao, the CEO of Hong Kong-based mining firm LightningASIC, for instance, sought to frame the idea that the bitcoin cash price increase represented any real uptick in interest in the project as “total bullshit.”

One of the leaders behind the bitcoin gold cryptocurrency, set to launch tomorrow, Liao has been a noted critic of bitcoin’s mining operators, in particular, Bitmain – one of the industry’s largest sellers of specialized mining chips and the operator of several mining pools.

For those following the scaling debate, Bitmain’s conduct has been one of the larger contentious narrative points, and Liao (like others) believes the explosion seen in the bitcoin cash market value is nothing more than an orchestrated bid by the firm (and its supporters) to prop up the market

“Many, many investors just see the change in hash rate,” he said. “But they cannot support such a big bitcoin cash price.”

Beijing-based over-the-counter Zhao Dong reported a similar sentiment in some circles, crediting the price to manipulation by miners and investors who have supported Segwit2x and bitcoin cash in the past. Bitmain and Ver were both signatories of the agreement that sparked the 2x software.

“They have money, they have hash power, they have everything need to pump the bitcoin cash price,” he said.

Indeed, one of the more interesting theories at the moment revolves around an unconfirmed PasteBin conversation that seems to foretell yesterday’s market move. (Though this may say more about current paranoia in the industry at large).

Swing states

Still, that’s not to say the reaction was broken along partisan lines.

Willy Woo, recently named one of CoinDesk’s Top 5 Token Analysts of 2017, sees the price move as perhaps one to watch. In contrast to other alternative cryptocurrencies that he said may lack value propositions, he went so far as to color bitcoin cash as a more nuanced option.

“It’s backed by a lot of money from China controlling its price and supporting its network. If you buy bitcoin cash, you are betting that China wants it to dominate. That’s a strategic and geopolitical bet,” he told CoinDesk.

Bobby Lee, CEO of mining pool and exchange operator BTCC, had a similar reaction. Long a business that supported the Segwit2x proposal to upgrade the blockchain, he reads the price boost in bitcoin cash as an obvious side effect of the decision to block the upgrade.

While he acknowledged that it’s yet to be seen whether this weekend’s movements amount to anything more than a quick speculative fervor, he still hinted the situation remains one he’ll be watching and observing.

Of particular concern for Lee, and others, is the decline in bitcoin’s total mining power.

Lee went so far as to suggest that any continuing decline in this metric could cut into an attribute that has traditionally been one of the cryptocurrency’s defining characteristics.

Lee concluded:

“If BTC’s hash power continues to fall, then I do think BTC has long-term trouble.”

Global credit card giant Visa has rolled out the first, pilot phase of its blockchain-based business-to-business payments service, B2B Connect.

First announced last year, Visa plans to use the platform to ease cross-border payments by facilitating direct payments between institutions, cutting out the middleman the industry currently relies on. The platform – developed with the assistance of blockchain startup Chain – is also designed to ensure secure, yet transparent payments between enterprises.

Already working with Visa on the project are U.S.-based Commerce Bank, South Korea’s Shinhan Bank, the Union Bank of Philippines and the United Overseas Bank, based in Singapore.

Visa’s global head of solutions, Kevin Phalen, told CoinDesk that the banks are trialing live bank-to-bank transactions over the platform.

Following this first phase of the project, phase two will see the project move to a commercial launch, slated to occur in the middle of 2018, he added.

Phalen explained:

This week’s announcement is just the first step as we work towards a commercial launch of Visa B2B Connect. We are beginning to process bank-to-bank test transactions with select clients. Additional banks, including corporates, will follow soon.

Visa’s existing partners, as well as future ones, can utilize the company’s application programming interface (API) to create their own platforms, according to a press release.

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