The biggest news of the week is International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM), Oracle (NYSE: ORCL), and the World Health Organization (WHO) are partnering on an open data hub to use blockchain technology to check the veracity of data relating to the coronavirus pandemic. MiPasa is built on Hyperledger Fabric and expected to evolve into a data hub that checks the veracity of information. Jonathan Levi, CEO of Hacera, the firm building the platform, said MiPasa is becoming a "COVID-19 information highway." Other project collaborators include Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Johns Hopkins University, and China's National Health Commission. IBM Blockchain CTO Gari Singh said everyone agrees it is important to "kickstart a consortium" as soon as possible, and he noted features like coronavirus testing data could be added to the hub.
Here is the rest of the week in review:
HSBC (NYSE: HSBC) placed $10 billion of paper-based private placement records on R3's Corda blockchain and plans to ramp up the project through the next 2 years. The British financial giant told CoinDesk efforts to boost the functionality of the platform due to client interest are slowing its on-boarding push. Without plans to move into the crypto space immediately, HSBC is focused on assets that are not yet digitized, as well as exchange-based security tokens and traditional assets that can be fractionalized. The bank is using blockchain as opposed to a traditional database because it plans to tokenize the private placements after it digitizes them. The bank's clients can access the Corda platform, which HSBC calls "Digital Vault," and view the private sales of shares or bonds through their online accounts.
Breitling added its first timepieces to a blockchain. The Swiss luxury watchmaker rereleased the Breitling Top Time hand-wound chronograph, with a black-and-white "panda" face to a new generation. Instead of offering a certificate of authenticity, the firm is registering each watch on a private blockchain that will follow its source from owner to owner. The firm stated: "The Breitling Top Time Limited Edition will be the brand's first watch offered with a blockchain-based digital passport, which confirms the authenticity and ownership of the watch with a single click." Breitling is using a blockchain from valuables registrar Arianee, a French firm that aims to build perpetual relationships between brands and owners. The blockchain links the watch's warranty to the watch itself and not any paper trail, allowing owners to ensure their chronographs are serviced by authorized dealers based on the timepiece's digital signature.
Crypto prices rose to $168 billion this week, trading in parallel with global equity markets. For the majors, Ripple (XRP), Litecoin (LTC), and Binance Coin (BNB) made gains, while Bitcoin SV (BSV), EOS, and Tezos (XTZ) fell. In the top 100, the biggest losers were KuCoin Shares (KCS), down 21%, Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR), down 11%, and Waves (WAVES), down 11%. The biggest gainers were Quant (QNT), up a whopping 51%, Status (SNT), up 33%, and Numeraire (NMR), up 26%. Next week traders will see if crypto can rebound for another week.
The author owns a small amount of LTC.