block chain

To: Henry McClure <mcre@cox.net>
Subject:

UPDATE: What each of the Dow industrials' 30 companies say--and don't--about blockchain

1 hour 44 minutes ago - DJNF

By Tomi Kilgore, MarketWatch , Jacob Passy

Many Dow members have blockchain initiatives in place

Blockchain technology isn't just for little-known companies trying to make a name for themselves, or struggling former blue-chip companies trying to rebrand themselves as innovative. It is the real deal, as a number of household names have been boarding the blockchain bandwagon.

Blockchain acts as a decentralized ledger that can be used to record and verify transactions, without the participation of a middleman. Even some Wall Street analysts who may be bearish on cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin , are bullish on blockchain (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-a-dot-com-style-collapse-in-bitcoin-wont-kill-blockchain-2017-12-19).

Don't miss: Here's why UBS is so bullish on blockchain, but not bitcoin (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-why-ubs-is-bullish-on-blockchain-but-not-bitcoin-2017-10-24).

Shares of Eastman Kodak Co. (KODK), which hit a record low last week, have more than tripled this week after the 129-year-old camera and film company announced a "major blockchain initiative." (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/kodak-boards-the-blockchain-bandwagon-2018-01-09) Kodak, which emerged from bankruptcy in September 2013, was a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average from July 1930 to April 2004.

In light of the Kodak's announcement, MarketWatch asked all 30 current Dow industrials members what steps they have taken, or plan to take, to use blockchain technologies for their businesses. Here's what they said:

Blockchain is the real deal

-- International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) has flung itself full-bore into blockchain. In 2017, the company created a division wholly devoted to researching use cases for blockchain technology. IBM has 1,500 employees who focus on blockchain and "over 400 different client engagements and solutions," said Marie Wieck, general manager of blockchain at IBM. "This is probably the most interest I've seen in an individual technology since the early days of the internet and e-business," Wieck said. Test pilots the company has explored include a collaboration with Stellar.org and KlickEx Group to make it possible to perform cross-border payments on the blockchain and a partnership with Maersk to digitize the paper trail associated with global shipping.

The company also operates IBM Blockchain, a public cloud service platform based on the open source Hyperledger from The Linux Foundation. With this software, customers can create their own blockchains and explore applications of the technology.

IBM has gone a step further and even incorporated blockchain technology into its own internal operations, said Bridget van Kralingen, IBM's senior vice president of industry platforms. The company's Global Financing division uses the technology to expedite dispute resolution and reconciliation, while another division that performs maintenance of ATMs and small-business computer environments has implemented the blockchain to keep track of its supply chain of parts. "This is going to change business models. It's a technology," van Kralingen said. "Last year was proving out many pilots and scaling out initial networks, now we're saying this is a different business model."

--UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH) said it has been evaluating and experimenting with the use of blockchain technologies in a health-care setting for about 18 months.

"It's among several emerging technologies that we're investing in," said Mike Jacobs, who is officially the "senior distinguished engineer and blockchain evangelist" at Optum, which is UnitedHealth's data technology analytics arm. "We believe it is going to be a long-term benefit."

Jacobs gave a presentation at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas about potential applications. To get a sense of the interest CES, he said, "I've been so busy at our booth talking about blockchain," that he hasn't had time to get a sense of what other companies may be doing in the space.

-- General Electric Co. (GE) is exploring the possible applications of blockchain technology at its FORGE Lab in upstate New York. The lab also serves as an educational resource for teams throughout the company to learn more about blockchain, said Ben Beckmann, senior scientist and blockchain mission leader at GE Global Research. The company hasn't moved any of its applications of the technology beyond the experimental stage, but Beckmann expected that to come down the pike soon. "We're using the underlying technology to help secure our industrial assets," he said.

--Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) has a website describing, "Why blockchain on Azure? (https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/solutions/blockchain/)," which is the software giant's cloud offering.

"Our mission is to help companies thrive in this new era of secure multiparty collaboration by delivering platforms and services that any company--including ledger startups, retailers, health providers, and global banks--can use to improved shared business processes."

Back in September 2016, Microsoft announced a collaboration with Bank of America Merrill Lynch on blockchain technology to fuel the transformation of trade finance transacting.

"In addition, Microsoft is working on open source solutions to improve the speed, governance and security of existing blockchain protocols like Ethereum, Hyperledger, Quorum and R3's Corda," a Microsoft spokesperson said. "The solution is called the Coco Framework and it enables existing ledgers to process transactions at close to standard enterprise database speeds."

--Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) said it had a blockchain test pilot with mangoes in the U.S. and pork in China, back in October 2016.

"Since our successful pilot text, Walmart has continued to expand our progress in testing blockchain technology for food traceability and transparency. In August 2017, we joined nine other global food retailers in a blockchain consortium in the U.S. Three weeks ago, we announced with our partners JD and Tsinghua University in China to launch a blockchain alliance in China."

--JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) Chief Executive Jamie Dimon has been a critic of the hype surrounding bitcoin, but the bank has bought into blockchain. It directed MarketWatch to a website that outlines the mandate for its "Blockchain Center of Excellence (BCOE) (https://www.jpmorgan.com/global/blockchain) to lead efforts for the applications of distributed ledger technology (DLT) within JPMorgan."

The moneycenter bank said it wants to be a "thought leader" in the space, using its expertise to develop industry standards so it can help drive implementation of blockchain throughout the banking industry.

--United Technologies Corp. (UTX) said in a statement: "As part of our research and development activity, we are actively exploring uses for blockchain technology as it has the potential to drive positive profound business change for UTC."

No comment

-- Coca-Cola Co. (KO) said, "we will decline to comment for your story."

-- Nike Inc. (NKE) said, "we don't have any comment."

-- Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) declined to comment.

No response yet, but it's a big deal

--Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) hasn't responded, but an October report from CB Insights (https://www.cbinsights.com/research/report/blockchain-trends-opportunities/) named the company as the fifth most active corporate investor in blockchain companies, behind SBI Holdings (8473.TO), Overstock.com (OSTK), Citigroup (C) and Google (GOOGL). In its own research note (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-a-dot-com-style-collapse-in-bitcoin-wont-kill-blockchain-2017-12-19), the bank said that "blockchain could be a revolution in the way everyone--businesses, governments, organizations and individuals--work together."

--Apple Inc. (AAPL) hasn't responded, but there are multiple apps in its App Store related to blockchain. And the company has reportedly filed a patent (http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.html&r=1&p=1&f=G&l=50&d=PG01&S1=20170353320.PGNR.&OS=dn/20170353320&RS=DN/20170353320) that hints at interest in using blockchain technology.

--American Express Co. (AXP) didn't immediately respond to requests for comment, but in November the company announced (http://about.americanexpress.com/news/pr/2017/blockchain-enabled-cross-border-b-to-b-payments.aspx) that it was introducing blockchain-enabled cross-border business-to-business payments between the U.S. and the U.K. on the Ripple network.

--Visa Inc. (V) said in its latest annual report that in addition to its own initiatives, it was working closely with third parties, including some potential competitors, for the development of and access to new technologies, which includes distributed ledger and blockchain technologies.

Waiting a response

3M Co. (MMM)

Boeing Co. (BA)

Chevron Corp. (CVX)

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO)

DowDuPont Inc. (DWDP)

Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM)

Home Depot Inc. (HD)

Intel Corp. (INTC)

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)

McDonald's Corp. (MCD)

Merck & Co. (MRK)

Pfizer Inc. (PFE)

Procter & Gamble Co. (PG)

Travelers Companies Inc. (TRV)

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ)

Walt Disney Co. (DIS)

-Jacob Passy; 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 11, 2018 13:29 ET (18:29 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT:
This message and its contents are privileged and confidential and it is solely for the use of the intended recipient. Should you not be the intended recipient, be aware that any review, disclosure, copying, distribution or use of the contents of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please destroy it immediately and notify the sender.