The pandemic 2020 is coming to an end. Despite the existence of many unstable factors, the growth of the digital economy has become a highlight of global development. Blockchain, as a new technology that can build a collaborative collaboration model with a low trust cost in a non-trust environment, has a prominent role.
We have seen that in the past year, countries all over the world have increased the development of blockchain technology, accelerated the innovative application of blockchain technology, in the underlying infrastructure, industry standards and regulations, policies and regulations, and industrial ecological development. Significant progress has been made in promoting industry applications.
With the further research, development and popularization of blockchain technology, the pace of the digital economy has accelerated. Major global banks are also “seeking change” in the blockchain.
On July 1, 2020, the ranking of the top 1000 global banks in 2020 published by the British “The Banker” magazine shows that the top ten banks are: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, JP Morgan Chase , Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, HSBC, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.
The “Global 1000 Bank Ranking” by the British “Banker” is the most important authoritative media ranking in the global banking industry. It is regarded as an authoritative yardstick for assessing the overall strength of the world banking industry and various banks, and it is a good rain for observing the development and changes of the global banking industry table. The top ten banks reflect the trends of major national banks. Golden Finance will take stock of the blockchain activities of the world’s major industries in 2020, and show you the path of blockchain expansion in the banking industry.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China: Provide blockchain-based financial services
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL BANK OF CHINA, ICBC for short) was established on January 1, 1984. It is a large state-owned bank managed by the central government and a national deputy ministerial-level unit.
ICBC ranks the highest in market capitalization among domestic blockchain concept stocks. Prior to this, ICBC Seal Chain blockchain services and ICBC’s blockchain-based financial services were also selected for the Internet Information Office blockchain information service filing.
In October 2020, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China successfully directly connected to the cross-border financial blockchain service platform of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. In the next step, ICBC will further use platforms such as export customs declaration, financing application, loan repayment, corporate credit and other platforms to directly connect and transmit information, improve the efficiency of trade financing business, further enhance the level of cross-border trade facilitation, and promote stable foreign trade and stability. foreign investment.
In addition, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China officially announced the issuance of a digital credit card, an unbounded platinum digital card, and the opening of a digital card area in the official APP “ICBC eLife”. Users can now enter the selection of digital card activation and complete the “one-click card binding”. ICBC is also actively participating in the construction of Digital Xiong’an and exploring digital currency innovation.
China Construction Bank: Cross-border financial blockchain service platform
China Construction Bank (China Construction Bank) was established on October 1, 1954. It is a large state-owned bank managed by the central government and a national deputy ministerial-level unit.
China Construction Bank continues to expand its application scenarios for emerging technologies such as blockchain. On July 6, under the guidance of the Sanya Central Branch of the Foreign Exchange Administration, the Sanya branch of China Construction Bank relied on the “cross-border financial blockchain service platform” to successfully handle export receivables worth 1.55 million yuan for an import and export company in Sanya. Account financing business. This business is the first financing business carried out on the cross-border financial blockchain platform in Sanya, effectively facilitating the use of cross-border funds by foreign-related enterprises.
In addition, on August 28, the China Banking Association organized the “China Trade Finance Interbank Transaction Blockchain Platform” (“CTFU platform”) construction symposium. The China Banking Association and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and Bank of Communications signed the “CTFU Platform Service Agreement”, officially kicking off the production of CTFU platform applications. The CTFU platform adopts the underlying technology of the distributed ledger, taking advantage of its openness, transparency, non-tampering, collective maintenance, and privacy protection to meet the needs of the digital transformation and development of the bank’s trade finance business.
At the same time, CCB has also launched a “digital renminbi wallet”, but it was previously limited to practical applications in some test areas. However, it is worth mentioning that the US$3 billion ERC20 bond LBFEB21, which has been widely followed by CCB as the issuance advisor, has been cancelled.
Agricultural Bank of China: The plan mentions strengthening the innovation of blockchain technology
The Agricultural Bank of China (AGRICULTURAL BANK OF CHINA, ABC for short) was established in 1951. It is a large state-owned bank managed by the central government and a national deputy ministerial-level unit.
As above, the Agricultural Bank of China has also participated in the application of the China Trade Finance Interbank Transaction Blockchain Platform.
In addition, the Agricultural Bank of China has compiled the “Information Technology Recent Development Plan of the Agricultural Bank of China (2020-2021)”. The “Recent Plan” pointed out that the “iABC” strategy, the strategic plan for the agricultural bank’s information technology work, under the guidance of new thinking, the “iABC” strategy will pass “seven major technologies, five pillars, six major middle- and Taiwanese, and two major guarantees” Concrete advancement. The “seven major technologies” closely follow the development trend of financial technology, from big data service system, cloud computing technology capabilities, artificial intelligence basic capabilities, distributed architecture research and development and application, blockchain technology innovation, information security technology strength, and network technology innovation. The key technologies of financial technology were refined in seven aspects, and the basic capacity building of financial technology was strengthened.
In addition, at the beginning of this year, Tencent Cloud also signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Agricultural Bank of China Hunan Branch in Changsha. The two sides will deepen cooperation in the construction of smart cities and financial technology innovation in Hunan Province.
Bank of China: Deeply participate in the application and promotion of digital currency
Bank of China (BANK OF CHINA) was formally established on February 5, 1912 with the approval of Mr. Sun Yat-sen. It is a large state-owned bank managed by the central government and a national deputy ministerial-level unit.
First, the Bank of China will deeply participate in the application and promotion of digital currency. In November, Bank of China Chairman Liu Liange stated that in the next step, the bank will closely follow the government’s policy guidance, give full play to its advantages in globalization and integration, and deeply participate in the application and promotion of digital currency.
In addition, Yu Weiwen, President of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, previously stated that the Monetary Authority is working with the People’s Bank of China Digital Currency Research Institute to study the use of digital renminbi for cross-border payment technology testing, and make corresponding technical preparations. In response, a spokesperson for the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said: “The relevant technical tests are limited to the participation of Hong Kong banks designated by the People’s Bank of China (Bank of China (Hong Kong)) and bank employees (about 200) and merchants invited to participate in the test. Digital RMB makes technical preparations for cross-border consumption.”
JPMorgan Chase: Three perspectives on the blockchain and crypto industry
JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM;), in December 2000 by J. P. Morgan Corporation and Chase-Manhattan Corporation merged to form a major commercial bank in the United States. The industry refers to Seymour or Xiaomo, and the Chinese are accustomed to calling it “MogenBank”. It is headquartered in New York, USA, with total assets of US$2.5 trillion and total deposits of US$1.5 trillion, accounting for 25% of total US deposits. With more than 6,000 branches, it is one of the largest financial service institutions in the United States.
JP Morgan Chase has a long history of research on cryptocurrencies. Prior to this, the head of wholesale payments at JPMorgan Chase’s multinational investment bank also stated in an interview that JPMorgan Chase has always viewed the blockchain and encryption industry through three perspectives. They are Bitcoin and other non-fiat-based cryptocurrencies, fiat-based digital assets created by institutions and central banks, and blockchain technology. When asked whether JPMorgan Chase “softened its position” on the issue of digital assets, Georgakopoulos clarified that JPMorgan Chase only softened its position on the issue of Bitcoin because it only has reservations about cryptocurrencies based on illegal currencies. Nevertheless, he said that some cryptocurrency platforms have implemented KYC rules, which makes it easier for banks to cooperate with exchanges.
However, Grayscale held a cryptocurrency investor forum on December 3, Eastern Time, and institutions such as JPMorgan Chase also participated. Although the CEO of JP Morgan Chase has previously expressed no interest in Bitcoin. However, JP Morgan Chase has been following up its research on cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Previously, JPMorgan Chase (JPMorganChase) also pointed out in a report that Bitcoin is eroding the demand for gold etf. Today, institutional investors such as family offices regard Bitcoin as a digital alternative to gold, which was once a safe haven. The demand for Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (BitcoinTrust) also exceeds the total demand for all gold ETFs.
Bank of America: Intention to provide crypto custody and other services
Bank of America (Bank of America), formerly named “Bank of America” in Chinese, was founded in October 1968 and headquartered in San Francisco, USA. It is the largest commercial bank in the United States in terms of assets; in 2006, it was ranked as the third largest company in the world according to the Forbes 2000 ranking. The establishment of the bank can be traced back to the Bank of Massachusetts in 1784 and is the second oldest bank in the United States.
This November. Ripple announced a partnership with Bank of America (BoA) and made Bank of America one of its main customers for the RippleNet solution. Bank of America is the second largest bank in the United States. With the support of RippleNet, customers of this bank will be able to complete real-time international remittance services at low costs and fees.
It is worth noting that the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) asked for comments on the proposed rules for the “National Bank and Federal Reserve Association Digital Activities”, and many U.S. banks responded to this. Several banks, including US Bank and PNC, said they may be interested in providing crypto custody and other services to customers.
Wells Fargo Bank: There will be more discussions on digital assets to develop a cryptocurrency linked to the US dollar
Wells Fargo & Company was established in New York, USA in 1852. It is a diversified financial group with total assets of US$1.9 trillion. Today’s Wells Fargo Bank was renamed after the acquisition of the original Wells Fargo Bank by Norwest in 1998 and moved to the old Wells Fargo headquarters in San Francisco.
Wells Fargo previously stated that it prohibits the use of its credit card to purchase cryptocurrency. Wells Fargo spokesperson Shelley Miller said in an email statement that although the purchase of such cryptocurrencies is now prohibited, the bank will continue to evaluate this issue as the market develops. However, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America have also issued this ban before.
On December 8, the latest research report released by the Wells Fargo Investment Research Institute pointed out that cryptocurrency investment is a bit like the early gold rush of the 1850s. With the advent of 2021, we will talk more about digital assets and cryptocurrencies will receive more attention.
On February 13, Wells Fargo announced an investment of $5 million in blockchain forensics company Elliptic. Elliptic said the investment is for a recently launched product that helps crypto exchanges win banking relationships. In addition, in 2019, Wells Fargo stated that it is developing a cryptocurrency linked to the U.S. dollar, which will run on one of the company’s blockchain platforms. WellsFargoDigitalCash is called Wellcoin and will initially be piloted for internal settlement of company business. It is reported that the company stated in a press release that the digital token will be able to solve the cross-border payment problem within its global network.
Citigroup: Helping governments “all over the world” create sovereign digital currencies
Citigroup Inc. (English: Citigroup Inc.) is headquartered in New York City, USA. It is one of the world’s largest investment banks and financial institutions. It was formed by the merger of Citigroup and Traveller Group in 1998, and was re-listed during the same period. Therefore, the company’s history can be traced back to the establishment of the City Bank of New York (later Citibank) in 1812; Bank Handlowy in 1870; Smith Barney in 1873, Banamex in 1884; Salomon Brothers in 1910.
Citigroup CEO Michael Corbat said his bank is helping governments “all over the world” create sovereign digital currencies, also known as central bank digital currencies (CBDC). Corbat said that CBDC is the “inevitable” development of the currency future, and Citigroup is helping to realize this future. He said that in terms of the creation and commercialization of (sovereign digital currency), Citi has been cooperating with some governments around the world.
In addition, in October this year, the blockchain trade finance platform Contour, jointly participated by eight major banks including HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Citibank and ING, has officially ended its testing phase.
It is worth mentioning that Citibank recently downgraded the stock rating of MicroStrategy (MSTR) because it believes that the company has “excessively” focused on Bitcoin. Soon after MicroStrategy announced that it had raised more funds to buy Bitcoin, Citibank analyst Tyler Radke gave the company a “sell” rating. Radke said that MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor’s “excessive focus” on Bitcoin puts investors at considerable risk, especially after the “excessive” rise in Bitcoin since September.
HSBC Group: Using Blockchain Technology to Complete Digital Bond Issuance
The HSBC Group is headquartered in London. The HSBC Group is one of the world’s largest banks and financial institutions. The HSBC Group has approximately 9,500 affiliates in 76 countries and regions in Europe, Asia Pacific, America, Middle East and Africa. HSBC is listed on stock exchanges such as London, Hong Kong, New York, Paris and Bermuda, and has approximately 200,000 shareholders worldwide, distributed in more than 100 countries and regions. There are 232,000 employees. HSBC has more than 110 million customers worldwide.
In September this year, HSBC, Singapore Exchange (SGX) and Temasek have completed a digital bond issuance on SGX’s digital asset platform through blockchain technology, replicating rice, cotton and coffee beans Supplier Oran International’s corporate bonds valued at nearly US$300 million. It is reported that the three companies successfully cooperated for the first time using the digital asset issuance, custody and service platform of the Singapore Exchange. The cooperation between them began in 2019.
In addition, AlfaBank, one of Russia’s largest private commercial banks, recently announced that it has joined the blockchain trade finance network supported by HSBC. This network enables bank customers to track the processing of trade finance transactions and reduce operating costs.
It is worth noting that before the French Central Bank (BanqueDeFrance) selected eight fintech companies to participate in the digital euro trial, including HSBC, Accenture and Seba Bank. In order to seek to realize the modernization of inter-bank settlement through the central bank digital currency (CBDC).
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group: plans to develop a dedicated security token blockchain platform
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Co., Ltd. (Japanese: Mitsubishi UFJ UFJ UFJ Financial Group, Inc., English: Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc., Chinese translation for Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, referred to as MUFG). It was formed by the merger of Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group (MTFG) and UFJ Holding (UFJ Holding) and was formally established on October 1, 2005.
In November this year, it was reported that Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG, Japan’s largest financial group) is leading a research consortium of 22 member companies to develop standards for the management of security tokens. It is reported that the alliance includes securities issuers, brokers and technology companies, including NTT Docomo Inc. and KDDICorp., the two largest telecommunications companies in Japan. In addition, the consortium is looking for ways to use blockchain to develop and provide financial transaction services, such as automatic settlement of securities and funds, and plans to develop a dedicated security token blockchain called “Progmat” to provide a managed security A platform for optimizing assets. The consortium will also apply for a Japanese patent on the infrastructure and organizational structure for managing security tokens.
At the same time, the blockchain consulting company LayerX announced that it has reached a cooperation with several subsidiaries of Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) to carry out next-generation financial transaction service experiments using blockchain technology.
Recently, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) denied reports that it plans to launch a digital currency in Japan next year. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Bank (MUFG) stated in a statement on December 4 that it has not yet decided whether the recent business partnership will eventually form a digital currency entity. Nikkei previously stated that Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) will establish a joint venture with Japanese Internet giant Recruit in 2020. This time, the digital currency operation independently developed by MUFG that can be used for settlement and point services is transferred to the new company.
