- Despite Jamie Dimon’s claim that bitcoin is fraud, ex-JP Morgan banker has removed the final barrier to widespread adoption of blockchain-based currencies by UK firms
- Businesses rely on paper trails - from balancing the books to contracts - but until now that infrastructure has depended on banks and commercial law
- Cryptocurrencies cut out the banks so CommerceBlock has created a decentralised way of automatically verifying payments and invoices linked to blockchain-based trading
The first firm in the UK to enable companies from all sectors of the economy to do business in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has today launched in London.
Cryptocurrencies are referred to as ‘trustless financial systems’ and they make ‘banking’ quicker and cheaper for companies.
However, what has been missing to date is the digital infrastructure that can tell a company more information about each transaction - if it has taken place, where it has gone, why and how it corresponds to the obligations of the firm to its customers, and its customers’ commitments to itself.
CommerceBlock acts as an automatic bridge between cryptocurrencies and the business world today. It enables firms to benefit from the cheaper, faster and ‘frictionless’ movement of funds on blockchains but provides proof of payment for both parties, even though the public information on the blockchain is limited and anonymous.
The ability to track business transactions has traditionally been underpinned by the banks but CommerceBlock fills this void in relation to cryptocurrencies. Firms can choose to transact using a mixture of traditional Fiat and ‘crypto’ currencies.
Its technology revolves around the creation of unique codes for invoices and contracts that it uses to certify whether sums have been paid.
CommerceBlock’s solution fits any blockchain or multiple blockchains simultaneously if a transaction uses more than one cryptocurrency. All sensitive trade details and customer funds are managed on the client side. Only the merchant and customer have cryptographic proof of who is being paid and for what.
Commerceblock uses ground-breaking technology known as the ‘BIP175 Pay-to- Contract protocol’ to achieve this. The technology, supported by the cryptocurrency community, enables cryptocurrency invoicing, the creation of contracts, managing trade flows, recording bills of laden, issuing assets, hedging currency risk and more.
Crucially, it means private firms keen to maintain their privacy no longer have to build private blockchains to store information.
Nicholas Gregory, founder and CEO of CommerceBlock, said:
“Cryptocurrencies are founded on the principle that trust shouldn’t be necessary so it’s apt that the next stage of their adoption should focus on the trust issues that affect ordinary businesses each and every day.
“Contracts, invoices, orders and obligations underpin the commercial world and what we are doing is making it possible to put all those checks and balances in place even when using Bitcoin and other decentralised currencies.
“This removes the final obstacle to widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies and we expect this sector to explode in the coming years, and London to take a pioneering role in the way cheaper, faster financial solutions made possible by cryptocurrencies will finally enter the mainstream.”
