IBM is embracing the Bitcoin Blockchain by utilizing the technology to power smart contracts.

According to The Wall Street Journal Big Blue’s research arm is using the code that powers the Blockchain to create a new derivative system that would be used to create digital contracts that would be recorded publicly and securely on a world-wide computer network.

The software, the development of which is said to have been ongoing over the past year, would have fintech applications such as being able to log transactions between banks or international businesses, or let banks and businesses share the same system of record.

As an all-round bonus, IBM is also said to be aiming to open-source the code it is developing, meaning that if it does come up with a solid Blockchain-derived smart contracts platform, everyone will be able to get their hands on it, and even build on top of it again.

Every man and his dog

IBM isn’t the first company to be exploring the Blockchain or Blockchain derivatives, and particularly with the surge venture capital funded fintech companies doing the same of late, you could say that every man and his dog wants in on the Blockchain.

And that’s not a bad thing.

If you read our coverage of Blockchain-focused fintech startups here at SiliconANGLE we’re probably starting to sound like a broken record, but we’ll say it again anyway: the Blockchain is the future, and those who can bring to market workable solutions that are not only embraced by high finance, let alone overcome the regulatory issues surrounding financial transactions, are the future kings of the technology world.

There’s also the “humanitarian” aspect (for lack of a better term) when it comes to the Blockchain as well, and that’s in utilizing it to bring financial solutions to people and countries who lack for current fiat currency legacy financial services, a point Arvind Krishna, Senior Vice President of IBM Research, noted in his interview with the Journal:

“I want to extend banking to the 3.2 billion people who are going to come into the middle class over the next 15 years…so I need a much lower cost of keeping a ledger. Blockchain offers some intriguing possibilities there.”

The time frame for the release of the code was given only as “in the next few months.”

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