IBM's latest news: Bitcoin blockchain technology as an upcoming global project

In 2015 , Bitcoin blockchain technology seemed to be attracting Fortune 100 companies from all over the world. IBM became the latest industry leader to not only show a keen interest in Bitcoin's innovative technology, but a new creation seemed to be nearing completion, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Blockchain technology and smart contracts : a perfect combination

Leaders of major banks such as UBS, Santander and Barclays have spent much of the year working on the secrets hidden by Bitcoin and how this could help financial markets become more efficient. IBM appears to be considering developing open source software that could be used to create digital contracts. The legendary computer company has been working on its own version of blockchain, with the leading research director calling the project an "experiment." Arvind Krishna, senior vice president of IBM Research, said:

“Blockchain, as a technology, is very interesting and intriguing. I want to expand banking to the 3.2 billion people who are going to enter the middle class in the next 15 years. So I need the cost of the ledger to be lower. Blockchain offers some interesting possibilities.”

This version of the blockchain will optimize the creation of smart contracts or private online contracts, transaction records between banks and businesses. It is particularly useful for large overseas transactions, where escrowed funds can be released online to complete payment transfers instantly when both parties fulfill their contractual obligations. This will be more efficient than slow and ancient wired transmissions.

This is actually IBM ’s second foray into bitcoin technology , following its Adept project in January, an experiment in monitoring connected devices, but this new project is different .

However, the blockchain system will not be privately held by IBM employees, it will be a public record and used globally like Bitcoin transactions. Peter Van Valkenburgh, director of the Coin Research Center , believes that mundane problems such as spam and system abuse will be well prevented. IBM is working on this issue and may use third-party lists to subcontract the management of the digital ledger, a bit like a moderator hosting an online forum.