IBM announced today that it is entering like a new shareholder to the Blockchain Startup We.Trade. We.Trade has a really big support and in addition to IBM, the company already has 12 other members and they are big European banks such as UBS, Deutsche Bank or HSBC.
“We.Trade is a blockchain trade network designed on IBM’s Hyperledger Fabric that connects buyers and sellers internationally.”
IBM adds that it was the COVID-19 pandemic that revealed weaknesses in supply chains, international business networks and provided an incentive for large companies to invest more in the industry.
“Having now satisfied the legal, security, compliance and integration requirements of 16 of the biggest banks in Europe, we.trade is moving towards full commercialization as banks start to onboard at least 10% of their client bases onto the network in the coming months,” said Ciaran McGowan, CEO We.Trade.
We.Trade has the task of connecting small and medium-sized enterprises with banks and subsequently streamlining paper transaction tasks that are associated with cross-border and international trade. It will focus on Smart contacts and the building blocks of blockchain technology, which record and show every transaction by individuals on a network.
From July 2020, the We.Trade project will expand its services with new banks and clients throughout Europe and will subsequently go to Asia. An eTradeConnect financial platform will be created for Asia, managed by 12 Asian banks and merged with We.Trade for global expansion.
We.Trade is supported by the following banks and companies:
- Shareholders – CaixaBank, Deutsche Bank, Erste Group, HSBC, KBC, Nordea, Rabobank, Santander, Société Générale, UBS, UniCredit, IBM
- Licensees holders: UniCredit AG in Germany, EuroBank in Greece, and ČSOB, Komerční Banka and Česká Spořitelna in the Czech Republic are licensees.