ABN AMRO, a Dutch bank has announced the launch of a blockchain inventory tracking platform dubbed as Forcefield, in a press release published on May 17.
As per the announcement, the platform is an Internet of Things solution that will enable the monitoring of physical trade inventories with sensors and near-field communication chips. Developed over the past year, Forcefield is a stand-alone product that evolved as an independent company following a successful proof-of-concept that was conducted with consulting firm Accenture.
The bank asserts that with Forcefield, the physical handling processes could be made more secure and the cost of the management of commodities used as collateral for loans will be reduced. Karin Kersten, the Managing Director of Trade and Commodity Finance at ABN AMRO stated that the platform will strengthen the commodity trading supply chain:
“Parties involved will benefit from more effective controls, greater efficiency, transparency and traceability.”
The announcement notes that besides ABN AMRO, Hartree Partners, Anglo American, Macquarie, Accenture, ING Bank, CMST International, Mercuria and OCBC Bank have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to launch Forcefield.
Reportedly, ABN AMRO abandoned plans to launch a custodial bitcoin (BTC) wallet dubbed “Wallie” due to risks. An ABN AMRO press officer said that the bank “concluded that cryptocurrencies because of their unregulated nature are at the moment too risky assets for our clients to invest in.”
Read more:EU Central Bank Asserts That Cryptocurrencies Pose No Threat to Financial Stability
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