starbit-digest

HSBC forex trading costs cut sharply by blockchain - executive   LONDON (Reuters) - HSBC has reduced the cost of settling foreign exchange trades by a quarter through its blockchain-based system, an executive overseeing the project told Reuters, offering a glimpse of the savings the technology could offer banks. The bank processes between 3,500 and 5,000 trades a day on its "FX Everywhere" system, settling trades worth $350 billion (£273 billion), Mark Williamson, chief operating officer of FX cash trading and risk management, told Reuters. The HSBC platform is a rare example of blockchain technology being put to practical use by a major bank. Last month the London-based lender said it had processed FX trades worth $250 billion on the platform since February last year. The fresh details of the scale of the HSBC project suggest that the potential of blockchain to make significant cost savings in the financial services industry - long touted by its proponents

Facebook Acqui-Hires Team from Blockchain Platform Startup Chainspace Facebook acquired its first company in the blockchain space, smart contract protocol development and research firm Chainspace. The move was likely made to acquire the company’s team of experienced crypto developers. Chainspace is an 11-person company that was started by five well-credentialed co-founders, including two Cambridge PhDs, several researchers from the University College of London, and part of the core group of people from Vega Protocol—a blockchain public network for trading financial product. The acquisition by Facebook was likely a buyout