What's buzzing in Australia and FinTech? Launch of its own blockchain

We’ve already stated in our recent post also that Australia has been the predominant country for FinTech innovation.

There has been a five-fold rapid surge in the number of FinTech startups in Australia over the past 5 years and the sub-sectors encompassed have become more diverse, as per the reports of KPMG. Investment in the Australian FinTech sector has risen remarkably as the Australian FinTech ecosystem is becoming increasingly diverse.

It is reported that on the successful launch of the world’s first blockchain-based fixed income product. The World Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), and other investors made the initiative possible, which stemmed in the bond-i raising more than $80 million.

While Australian Government’s 2018-19 budget has allocated $530,000 for blockchain research under the Digital transformation Agency (DTA) program, this development was exclusively prompted by a specific request from the country’s Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull.

International Business Machines Corp (IBM), the IT and software magnate, had signed a five-year $740 million deal with the Australian government to deploy and optimally utilize blockchain and other new technologies with an objective of improvise data security. Thereby, Australian government seems to be keen on investing into the research for blockchain technology, quantum computing and artificial intelligence.

Paul Hutchison, who is the vice president of Cognitive Process Transformation, IBM Global Business Services, explained the significance of the initiative, saying: Blockchain will be to transactions what the Internet was to communication – what starts as a tool for sharing information becomes transformational once adoption is widespread. The ANB could be that inflection point for commercial blockchain, spurring innovation and economic development throughout Australia.

Australia is cognizant of the vital portion of mass adoption strategy is ensuring that the public will have easy access to the technology or service in question and about the collaboration with Data61, the Herbert Smith Freehills law firm, and IBM to build the country’s first blockchain network.

The new project, tentatively called the Australian National Blockchain (ANB), is being referred to as “a significant new piece of infrastructure in Australia’s digital economy,” according to CIO.

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