PricewaterhouseCoopers has partnered with the blockchain technology company Blockstream to bring distributed-ledger and smart-contract technology to its clients.
Blockstream aims to extend the capabilities of the bitcoin blockchain through "sidechain" technology – which would allow companies to trade assets across multiple blockchains, with bitcoin being the "parent chain."
The consulting firm has begun introducing Blockstream's technology product to companies in the United States, Europe and Asia, it said Thursday.
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Major cloud, consulting and software providers like Microsoft and Deloitte are plugging "blockchain as a service" for financial institutions that want to experiment with this technology without making huge investments.
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The latest blockchain technology initiative has IBM, Digital Asset Holdings, R3 and other tech companies working with banks, Swift, the London Stock Exchange and the Linux foundation to jointly create open-source software meant to be used to quickly bring new blockchain software to market.
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Though lukewarm about Bitcoin itself, bankers see promise in the technology it runs on, specifically the distributed ledger, for efficiency and security improvements in areas like payments and securities handling.
June 1 -
R3 CEV thinks it is better positioned than other blockchain startups to provide products that banks will use. Why? It is pairing with banks up front, focusing on how they approach the trendy technology.
November 30
"For our clients, understanding new world applications of bitcoin and blockchain technology, adapting it for myriad uses, and using it optimally are critical to improving financial security, efficiency and compliance," said Haskell S. Garfinkel, a PwC partner and Fintech co-leader.
The company said it would use its expertise to help Blockstream with pilot programs and full-scale implementations of its product.
The Silicon Valley-based Blockstream was founded by a group of top bitcoin developers. It raised $21 million in initial seed funding in November 2014 from venture backers including LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman; Khosla Ventures; Google chairman Eric Schmidt's Innovation Endeavors; and Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang's AME Cloud Ventures.
