The second half of 2016, along with the entire year of 2017, brought along great developments in the blockchain industry, a major increase in the value of bitcoin, Ethereum and other digital currencies, and will likely be remembered as the year when this technology started to become mainstream.
Following long years of development and research, alongside with an increase in social acceptance, blockchain-based projects are rapidly growing in popularity, and this is also showing in the increasing value of digital currencies, and other tokens of this type. According to recent reports, it seems like the Blockchain Consortium R3 has managed to raise a total of $107 million in investments, which is a new record.
For those who do not know, the Blockchain Consortium R3 includes numerous blockchain-related companies, but also some of the world’s largest financial firms and technology companies as well. Some of the leading investors involved in this project, include, but are not limited to the SBI Group, Bank of America, HSBC, Intel and more. Therefore, it clearly represents the largest consortium of financial and technology institutions working on the development of blockchain technologies, services, and looking for ways in which the blockchain could be adapted to fulfil many of society’s current needs.
Some of the other investors that are involved in the project include Wells Fargo, ING, the Bank of Canada and more, thus showcasing the size of the consortium.
R3 has stated that it will use the $107 million that it has managed to raise in order to further accelerate the development of the technology, but also help grow numerous strategic partnerships meant for its development, and actual, real-life applications.
In a recent press statement, the managing director of Wells Fargo Securities mentioned that: ‘While still in its infancy stages, the emergence of distributed ledger technology comes at a time when the financial services industry is poised to further embrace technological change and efficiencies’.
While not all banks have embraced the consortium, with names such as Goldman Sachs dropping out of the R3, it still seems like the R3 has a long road ahead, filled with numerous challenges, awesome projects, and great developments in the industry.
If all things work out as planned, then chances are that numerous more projects, such as business applications meant to verify transactions taking place between banks, or automating services could be implemented into real life usage in the near future.
Based on everything that has been outlined so far, what do you personally think about the funds that the Blockchain Consortium R3 has managed to raise? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.