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Ethereum studio ConsenSys will reportedly integrate Quorum into the China state-sanctioned Blockchain Service Network (BSN). The BSN is a service infrastructure that allows developers to build decentralized applications on top of blockchains that it supports, like Hyperledger Fabric, Ethereum, and Polkadot. It is backed by the State Information Center of China, a think tank under the country's cabinet-level economic planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission. Beijing-based Red Date Technology oversees the operations and development of the platform.

Stephen Phillips, VP product from Bitt presented the architecture of the system at the Hyperledger Capital Markets Special interest Group on January 27.

Deutsche Boerse and Swisscom utilize different blockchain protocols to settle securities transactions by exchanging cash tokens for tokenized shares in a joint proof of concept involving R3's Corda and IBM's Hyperledger Fabric.

The Central Bank of Iran (CBI), via its Informatics and Services Corporation (ISC) and in conjunction with Areatak - a Tehran-based blockchain solutions provider - is developing a national blockchain project for its banking and financial sector.

Japanese blockchain company Soramitsu will start testing a new "White Tiger" digital currency for retailers at the University of Aizu. It will run on the company's native Hyperledger Iroha blockchain. Testing is starting with the university's cafeterias and shops before gradually being utilized at locations off campus. Soramitsu is one of the blockchain startups behind the development of Cambodia's blockchain-based Project Bakong retail payment system.

The U.S. Federal Reserve published details about a 2019 payments trial involving distributed ledger technology, specifically the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain software. The so-called "FooWire" experiment was designed to test whether the technology is suited for payments application. FooWire was "small-scale" and specifically focused on permissioned capabilities. The network included three hypothetical organizations: a central bank, a government agency, and a commercial bank. Network administrators were responsible for approving and creating accounts and nodes to administer the ledger. The only asset that could be transferred between nodes was an artificial asset called Funds. https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/observations-from-the-foowire-project-experimenting-with-dlt-for-payments-use-20200813.htm

ConsenSys has joined the Bank of Thailand to explore the potential of blockchain technology in the development of a proof-of-concept prototype for a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) project, alongside SCG and Digital Ventures (DV). The private-permissioned network on Hyperledger Besu will be designed to meet both the functional and non-functional requirements of a retail CBDC. One of the business cases will test the use of a CBDC to simulate daily commerce, automate payments, and support procurement and financial management system called Procure-to-Pay (B2P) developed by DV. In the exploration, CBDC will be tested and issued using ERC20 smart contracts. In partnership with Thailand partner Atato, ConsenSys will architect a solution using its Enterprise Ethereum stack, including ​Codefi​ and ​MetaMask​

China's Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN) - a public-private nationwide infrastructure project to spur mass adoption of blockchain technology - is setting up international portals in Turkey and Uzbekistan, following its September announcements to set up BSN portals in Hong Kong and South Korea. The BSN integrates frameworks such as Ethereum, Algorand, EOS, Polkadot, NEO, Tezos, Oasis, Hyperledger Fabric, ConsenSys Quorum, and Corda. It is also supported by cloud services, including Amazon Web Services, Google, and Microsoft Azure.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reportedly has sent a presentation to Nigerian banks about the e-Naira central bank digital currency (CBDC) project. The CBDC, which will not be renumerated, will run on a Hyperledger Fabric DLT platform, and users will access it with the CBN's three-tier Speed Wallet. The first tier, which does not require users to have a bank account, will require users to register their phone number validated as a National Identity Number (NIN) and has a daily send/receive limit of N50,000 (about $120) and a maximum balance of N300,000 ($730). Tier Two wallet users, who must have a bank account and Bank Verification Number (BVN), will be able to send and receive N200,000 ($485) and hold up to N500,000 ($1,200). The third Tier allows daily transactions up to N1,000,000 ($2,430) with holdings limited to N5,000,000 ($12,150).

Banco Central do Brasil (BCB) published an FAQ on its under-development Drex central bank digital currency (CBDC). "Drex will bring more speed, practicality, and lower cost to various contractual and financial transactions... In the same way that Pix - the Brazilian instant payment ecosystem - has democratized access to payment services, Drex arrives to democratize access to financial services, such as credit, investment and insurance." Programmability through smart contracts on distributed ledger technology (DLT) networks will be a key part of Drex's platform. In the current testing phase, Drex is being developed on Hyperledger Besu.

The Banco Central do Brasil (BCB) has opened the registration period for Brazilian financial institutions  to participate in digital real technical testing, in accordance with BCB Resolution No. 315/2023, published on April 27, 2023. The testing will involve no real transactions (so it isn't a pilot). Its aim is to validate the use of a DLT solution on the Hyperledger Besu platform, evaluating programmability and the ability to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, mainly related to privacy,  as well as its technological viability.

Yesterday I reported that the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) was reported to be launching a central bank digital currency (#CBDC) pilot today (September 22, 2022). The news isn't coming directly from the CBI, but from the Iran Chamber of Commerce. Now Al Jazeera is reporting that the digital rial will run on a platform called Borna, which was developed using Hyperledger Fabric, an open-source permissioned distributed ledger technology (DLT) blockchain platform

R3 has rolled out a public beta of its Corda distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform that is capable of interoperating with other blockchain networks. Also, in partnership with Adhara, R3 has launched a Hyperledger Foundation Lab - Harmonia - to speed the development of interoperability protocols for regulated financial institutions, and  achieve true atomic settlement across blockchain networks.

The Banco Central do Brasil (BCB) published the details of its digital real central bank digital currency (CBDC) technical testing. It will involve no real transactions (so it isn't a pilot). Its aim is to validate the use of a DLT solution on the Hyperledger Besu platform, evaluating programmability and the ability to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, mainly related to privacy, as well as its technological viability. The details include the criteria for selecting the ten participating institutions.

As blockchain adoption increases globally, scaling solutions will be necessary to keep pace with demand while layer-1 blockchains come up to speed. There are blockchain scaling solutions for every type of business. Permissioned blockchains like Hyperledger Fabric and Consensys Qorum can be ideal for enterprises; meanwhile, for smaller projects, layer-2 solutions are sufficient to perform the required tasks. For example, instead of developing dApps for a payment application on the Ethereum main chain, businesses can utilize the likes of SKALE, Polygon PoS, or Loom Network's side chain ecosystem to effortlessly process transactions. Meanwhile, if you need instant and free peer-to-peer Ethereum transactions, state channels like Perun or Connext could be your solution. If you want to use your digital assets on a different chain to conduct business, look for a platform that utilizes cross-chain bridges and see what its ecosystem offers.

The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) DCash has been offline since January 14, and it could take several more days to fully restore service, bank officials told Bloomberg News. The "interruption" didn't compromise any data but it stopped all transactions. The problem was related to an expiring certificate on the version of the Hyperledger Fabric that hosts the DCash ledger.

The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) has revealed that an expired certificate caused its pilot central bank digital currency (CBDC), DCash, to go offline from January 14. Karina Johnson, the ECCB project manager for the DCash pilot, said that "the version of Hyperledger Fabric (HLF)", the network that hosts DCash's distributed ledger, "had a certificate expire". To install an up-to-date certificate, the currency's operators are undertaking "a version change of HLF and associated systems.

IBM said at least two major U.S. banks are considering whether to follow JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s lead in issuing a stablecoin. IBM said it is also working with six non-U.S. banks on digital currencies, including BNK Financial Group Inc.'s Busan Bank in South Korea, and in the Philippines, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., which is expected to issue a stablecoin in the second quarter. The banks are awaiting approvals from regulators.

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.