HSBC has completed the world’s first commercially viable trade-finance transaction using blockchain, opening the door to mass adoption of the technology in the $9tn market for trade finance. The UK-based bank said the blockchain trade, which processed a letter of credit for US food and agricultural group Cargill, had shown the platform was ready to be commercially adopted across the industry. The introduction of blockchain, which underlies cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, is expected to shake up the centuries-old trade-finance industry, reducing the numerous documents and several days of processing needed for a single transaction to a paperless task that can be completed in hours. The distributed ledger technology behind Blockchain has the potential to be used for encrypted and unhackable record-keeping across a range of industries, from property registration to medical records and insurance claims.

https://www.ft.com/content/c0670eb6-5655-11e8-bdb7-f6677d2e1ce8