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An evaluation was conducted of 517 blockchain firms against PCIO framework of evidence-based practice: Problem - Comparison - Intervention and Outcomes. It concluded that almost half of the blockchain firms show no explicit evidence of the problem to be solved. Approximately one-third fail to cite a comparison and intervention analysis, and less than 2 per cent demonstrate evidence of outcomes backed by filtered (critically appraised, peer reviewed) information.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) plans to deploy and distribute bank-backed stablecoins on different public blockchains. The Japanese bank has partnered with Datachain, a blockchain interoperability company, and Toki, a cross-chain bridge, to allow the interoperation of these licensed stablecoins along several blockchains using its Progmat Coin protocol. The announcement comes after Japan's revised funds' settlement law passed in 2022 came into take effect to allow financial institutions to issue stablecoins. Stablecoin issuance on public blockchains doesn't seem to be explicitly covered in the legislation as summarized in a slide deck from Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) and this document, although a white paper published by the country's Liberal Democratic Party implies that clarity on this issue would be forthcoming, which I suppose has indeed arrived.

The World Economic Forum has teamed up with over 100 global supply chain and logistics leaders to standardize blockchain apps in the industry. The project aims to co-develop interoperable blockchain applications in the logistics industry and to leverage an open-source toolkit to deploy blockchain responsibly.

The new Azure Blockchain Development Kit for Ethereum will help developers create and deploy ethereum-based apps on Azure Blockchain Service or the ethereum blockchain

Is issuing fiat-backed stablecoins on public blockchains the best approach? Is a public, permissionless blockchain actually necessary? Let's take a closer look at what stablecoins supposedly gain from the use of public blockchains and whether there may be more practical options available to issuers.

The second edition of the Global Enterprise Blockchain Benchmarking Study provides new insights into the current state of the enterprise blockchain ecosystem. The study gathers survey data from 160 start-ups, established companies, central banks, and other public-sector institutions from 49 different countries worldwide. The empirical analysis specifically focuses on enterprise blockchain networks that have entered in production.

Tencent and Alibaba filed the most blockchain patent applications in 2019. Out of 5,800 blockchain patent applications filed, Tencent and its affiliates filed for 718 while Alibaba Group filed 470. Overall, about 63% of firms with over 20 blockchain patent filings are based in China. The U.S. follows next.

Polkadot is a blockchain protocol connecting multiple specialized blockchains into one unified network. Polkadot is built to connect and secure unique blockchains, whether they be public, permission-less networks, private consortium chains, or oracles and other Web3 technologies. It enables an internet where independent blockchains can exchange information under common security guarantees. The network has an advanced suite of governance tools and, using the WebAssembly standard as a "meta-protocol", can autonomously deploy network upgrades. https://wiki.polkadot.network/docs/en/getting-started

Before implementing blockchain technology, managers, builders and developers need to ask themselves one question: "why blockchain?" There are three criteria for a decentralized system: (a) a uniformly accepted single source of truth, (2) the system must receive inputs from two or more parties, and (3) the parties must not trust each other and their interactions must, therefore, be authenticated via a third party. Also, it must be determined whether a centralized or distributed third party could serve in the place of a blockchain.

El Banco de la República Colombia participated in a blockchain bond program pilot. Issued by Colombian commercial bank Davivienda, with counseling from the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), this pilot pilot saught to explore the benefits of the new technology and study its application for future bond issues. The bonds will be issued and managed using IADB's Lacchain blockchain platform, and the role of the central bank will be to run an observing node in the blockchain and support settlement in its high-value payments system.

Digital Asset's DAML is a smart contract language that is designed to work with blockchain platforms. DAML cannot be used on its own - it needs a platform underneath it. What's unique about DAML, however, is that we're enabling it to work on more than just blockchain platforms.

This Global Digital Finance paper reflects on the evolution of the enterprise blockchain ecosystem, assesses the current state of the industry, and explores the key trends that will shape its future trajectory. Findings are based on research conducted in June and July 2020, which involved desktop research and semi-structured interviews with key decision-makers from the ecosystem's leading companies. It also provides a conceptual framework for how to approach the blockchain ecosystem that categorises projects into four layers. The framework can be equally applied to public blockchains and crypto-assets.

The Bank of Russian is reportedly developing a digital mortgage platform powered by a domestically developed blockchain called Masterchain. Masterchain is reportedly the first blockchain platform in Russia to be certified by the Federal Security Service. It is a permissioned, Ethereum-based blockchain that was launched in 2017.

This article sheds light on the application of blockchain technology to the existing financial market infrastructure, namely to post-trade settlement. We show how blockchain technology can facilitate trustless delivery vs. payment (DVP) settlement without any intermediary. Moving settlement processes entirely on decentral technologies makes the settlement process more efficient since it decreases the associated transaction costs and reduces involved risks. Hence, the blockchain-based multichain atomic swap technology will become a peer-to-peer alternative to a central clearing counterparty that normally facilitates the DVP settlement of financial assets.

"Red Date Technology, the company China tapped to manage its Blockchain Service Network (BSN) [is partnering] with South Korean blockchain company MetaverseSociety in what will be BSN's first expansion outside greater China... [This] reflects China's ambition to... build a global blockchain-based cross-cloud, cross-portal and cross-framework public infrastructure network."

Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has teamed up with blockchain technology company Algorand to agree a sponsorship and technical partnership deal. The agreement means Algorand will become the official blockchain platform of FIFA and provide the official blockchain-supported wallet solution.

"Canada could be throwing its weight behind the blockchain industry in the coming months, concluded a report from the House of Commons highlighting the technology's benefits. The 62-page report stemmed from the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology, urging the government to recognize blockchain "as an emerging industry." The report noted that blockchain could play a significant role in reforming the financial services sector while finding applications in the supply chain and manufacturing industries."

"Trail of Bits has released an operational risk assessment report on blockchain technology. As more businesses consider the innovative advantages of blockchains and, more generally, distributed ledger technologies (DLT), executives must decide whether and how to adopt them. Organizations adopting these systems must understand and mitigate the risks associated with operating a blockchain service organization, managing wallets and encryption keys, relying on external providers of APIs, and many other related topics. This report is intended to provide decision-makers with the context necessary to assess these risks and plan to mitigate them."

In a speech in 2019, the Chinese leader said blockchain was an "important breakthrough in independent innovation of core technologies." Since then, China has quietly been building a platform that aims to facilitate the deployment of blockchain technology for enterprises. It is called Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN). BSN, which has links to the Chinese government, is aiming to go global but could face challenges.

The European Commission (EC) launched the European Regulatory Sandbox for Blockchain to provide legal certainty for decentralized technology solutions including blockchain by identifying obstacles to their deployment from a legal and regulatory perspective and providing legal advice, regulatory experience and guidance in a safe and confidential environment. It should also allow regulators and supervisors to enhance their knowledge of cutting-edge blockchain technologies and share best practices through dialogues.