Blockchain concept illustration. Image: enzozo/Shutterstock
30 the largest companies from sectors including tech and finance have joined to form an alliance to allow easier use of the blockchain enterprise code Ethereum.
Blockchain is no longer the outsider technology driving bitcoin. It is the technology that could define the future of the financial world, and almost any area of business for that matter.
Major corporations have realised this, and have decided to band together to form an alliance that will look to use one particular open source version of blockchain called Ethereum.
Invented by a 23-year-old programmer named Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum is an open source program that offers decentralised smart contracts through its Ethereum Virtual Machine, which has been picked up by several banks.
According to Reuters, the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) will include companies such as Microsoft, Intel and JPMorgan Chase, along with 27 other banks and start-ups.
Making Ethereum ready for business
“The EEA connects Fortune 500 enterprises, start-ups, academics and technology vendors with Ethereum subject matter experts,” the EEA said on its website.
“Together, we will learn from and build upon the only smart contract supporting blockchain currently running in real-world production – Ethereum – to define enterprise-grade software capable of handling the most complex, highly demanding applications at the speed of business.”
By forming this alliance, the EEA hopes to improve upon the Ethereum blockchain code to enhance its security, scalability and privacy to make it more suited to wider business applications.
Other members listed include Accenture, Banco Santander, BP, Credit Suisse, Bank of New York Mellon, Thomson Reuters and start-ups ConsenSys and BlockApps.
This is not the first blockchain-based alliance to be formed. The simply named Blockchain Alliance in the US provides education, technical assistance and sessions regarding cryptocurrencies and uses of blockchain.
