Fintech companies and banks may use blockchain technology services such as biometric authentication and mobile payment systems such as Apple Pay and AliPay. (Photo : Getty Images)
Blockchain infrastructure provider BitFury Group received $30 million as investment from Hong Kong-listed fintech company Credit China Fintech Holdings which also includes the setting up of a joint venture that will promote blockchain technology in China, CNBC reported.
As part of the deal, the joint venture will help BitFury sell its bitcoin mining equipment.
The technology used in bitcoin is called blockchain, which is like a massive ledger where every transaction is recorded and stored in a global network to keep it tamper-proof. Blockchain has several applications which include securing information, easy processing of bank loans and more efficient trading.
According to the statement sent to CNBC by Phang Yew Kiat, vice chairman and CEO of Credit China Fintech, the company is considering the use of blockchain technology on some of its platforms, which will include peer-to-peer lending and payments services.
"We have a working prototype payment system using blockchain technologies working in our research laboratory," Phang was quoted as saying.
Blockchain technology has several potential uses and various applications in business, government and financial institutions.
However, as an emerging technology, industry players are still trying out blockchain's proof-of-concept for various uses and it would take some time before it is widely accepted and used, Ng Zhi Ying, an analyst with Forrester, said.
Ng cited the efforts of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, blockchain technology company R3, a consortium of banks, and the Singapore Exchange to pursue a proof-of-concept project, which aims to find a way to enable inter-bank payments using blockchain.
Earlier this month, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the CEO of Ant Financial, Alibaba's payment affiliate, said they are looking into the possibility of using blockchain for Alipay system.
"It still hasn't gained that maturity level and people are trying to find out how do you use (blockchain), how can we scale it and how do you justify the return-on-investment of investing in this technology," Ng said.
Industry players are now looking for application of the blockchain technology using bitcoin in areas such as customer identification for banks, fraud prevention and implementing smart contracts in the insurance industry, monitoring and tracking of goods in the shipping industry and cross-border payments.
As blockchain technology's popularity grew, BitFury Group and international law firm Covington formed the Global Blockchain Business Council to bring industry players together and promote the latest blockchain innovations.
