The emergence of blockchain consortia
Blockchain is a technology that requires COOPETITION — collaboration among competition — to be effective, which is why companies — both allies and competitors — have begun working together in consortia.
Trends in Consortia:
· More than 40 consortia have been formed globally
· Well-funded and staffed consortia, committed to deploying blockchain technology at commercial scale
· Most industries have consortia such as FS, health care, logistics, music, oil & gas, etc
· Policymakers, regulators, and central banks are beginning to join or found and lead blockchain consortia
Types of Consortia:
1. Business-focused consortia — Aim to build and operate blockchain-based business platforms to solve a specific business problem. An example is Digital Trade Chain, launched in January 2017 by seven leading European banks
2. Technology-focused consortia — seek to develop reusable blockchain platforms based on technical standards. An example is Hyperledger, an “open source collaborative effort created to advance cross-industry blockchain technologies.”
Why do companies join blockchain consortia?
- Consortia represent a low-risk effort to stay current on blockchain trends
- Learn what competitors are doing
- Defend new threats
- Prepare to implement the technology should they decide to
- Many companies are joining consortia for FOMO: fear of missing out
Four success factors for blockchain consortia
1. Funding: Applying blockchain technology to a business use case and bringing it into production requires significant investment in technical talent and several years’ worth of commitment to technical implementation. Only one consortium has raised significant funding: R3 has brought in more than $100 million from existing members
2. Membership: Some industry consortia are succeeding thanks to the commitment of industry leaders. For example, Fundchain, an international consortium of asset managers, is working to bring 401(k) plans, mutual funds, and pension funds to the blockchain
3. Leadership: Some consortia have made significant progress thanks to the outsized commitment of a single leading player. In the case of Hyperledger, IBM is providing a significant part of the codebase
4. Governance: Convincing competitors to collaborate is no easy feat. Consortia with good governance structures in place are the ones capable of getting traditional competitors to collaborate and work together. Consortia need good governance structures to facilitate consensus around standardization issues that are in part driven by politics.
List of some of the popular blockchain consortia:
1. R3
2. EEA — Enterprise Ethereum Alliance
3. Hyperledger
4. BankChain
5. B3i
6. Digital Asset Holding
7. FISCO — Financial Blockchain Shenzhen Consortium
8. FundChain
9. PTDL — Post Trade Distributed Ledger
10. Swiss Industry Consortium
Source: https://bit.ly/2C95Usx and other public domain references
P.S.: Views expressed in this article are in my individual capacity and do not represent the opinions of any entity whatsoever with which I have been affiliated.
