Blockchain 2.0 (Part 2): Case Studies on the Application of Blockchain in Financial Services

An important business of the blockchain industry is to connect digital currencies with traditional banks and financial markets.

Ripple Labs is using blockchain to reshape the banking ecosystem and allow traditional financial institutions to conduct business better. The Ripple network allows multinational banks to directly transfer and conduct foreign exchange transactions without the need for third-party intermediaries: Regional banks can directly transfer funds in two or more regional banks in both directions without the need for third-party intermediaries. Ripple has developed a smart contract and programming language Codius to meet more complex business needs.

Paypal, together with Bitpay, Coinbase and GoCoin, launched a solution to connect Bitcoin with the traditional financial and payment markets. Braintree, a mobile payment company under Paypal, launched a service that allows users to pay Airbnb and Uber directly with Bitcoin. Paypal was once an innovator for traditional financial institutions, and now uses its influence to play the role of glue between tradition and innovation, which is a boost to the digital currency industry.

A group of startups are doing "Bitcoin Bank" business: building a bridge between regulated Bitcoin and traditional finance

Bitcoin exchange Kraken is partnering with banks to offer compliant Bitcoin services: Bitcoin savings accounts and loans.

BTCjam launches a decentralized P2P lending website based on blockchain.

Tera launched a US-regulated Bitcoin exchange that allows individuals and institutions to purchase Bitcoin contracts through an online trading platform. Tera provides a Bitcoin price index as an indicator for contracts based on USD/XBT.

Vaurumz has built an API that provides a channel for financial institutions, investors, and bank clients who engage in traditional brokerage business to purchase Bitcoin.

Buttercoin provides services to customers who purchase Bitcoin in large quantities. It has started business cooperation with securities company Wedbush.

Overstock has created Medici, a decentralized securities trading market based on blockchain.

DAH, which has executives from JPMorgan Chase as members, uses blockchain technology to provide large-scale transaction solutions between financial institutions.

NASDAQ and chain.com are collaborating to test a securities trading market based on the Bitcoin blockchain. The test will be conducted in NASDAQ Private Market.

Currently, blockchain is only being promoted on a small scale in the financial services market. As its applications increase, blockchain may first be popularized in the financial industry in the future.