Coinbase, the Bitcoin exchange provider, has raised $10.5 million from investors including Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital and Silicon Valley VC firm Sozo Ventures.
The investment is related to the previous information of Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ entering into a strategic partnership with Coinbase, and follows rumors the San Francisco startup had been working on a proof-of-concept with an unknown Asian bank.
Coinbase stated officially, that the partnership should be helpful to to build a connection between blockchains and the traditional financial industry.
As Coinbase stated:
“Partnering with leading global financial institutions is a key part of our strategy and we are thrilled to be working with BTMU.”
Furthermore, Coinbase informed about its intention to expand into Japan, to a second Asian market for the company.
Coinbase’s overall funding has now reached $116.7 million. That’s still behind the well-known bitcoin payment services provider Circle, which has already raised $136 million in total. Investors in previous Coinbase rounds include the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), BBVA Ventures and QueensBridge Venture Partners.
UK pension payments through blockchain
The UK government’s Department of Work and Pensions is examining and testing the blockchain system for the purpose of welfare payments distribution. The department work with the UK-based banking institution Barclays, the UK branch of German RWE, fintech startup GovCoin and University College London.
This project came after a conference at the beginning of July where David Freud, state minister for welfare reform, held a speech. According to PaymentsCompliance, Freud suggested that the any success of failure of the project is about to depend on welfare payments recipients.
Freud stated:
“We started a small trial in the north west, designed to see if we can send welfare payments using this technology, and more importantly, to see if people reliant on welfare payments would benefit from this approach.”
The system shall entail a mobile app and a blockchain system that records payments sent or received by welfare recipients. Before the trial, a major report released by the UK Government Office for Science in January was published, calling for the government to conduct experiments using the technology. The report counts on so-called “system to manage welfare support payments for the Department for Work and Pensions”, going on to highlight its potential security needs should it be built.
For any questions or recommendations, feel free to write us on hello@goforex.eu
