International Business Machines Corp. and Samsung intend to expand the use of bitcoin technology and implement it in new applications.
Despite the fact that bitcoin’s price decreased over the past year and the future of the most discussed cryptocurrency is still unclear, distributors, banks, tech companies seem to be incredibly attracted by the technology behind bitcoin. It happens due to the bitcoin technology’s ability to be adjusted to record alterations in ownership of any asset in a public ledger via a distributed network of computers or mobile devices in order to speed up and promote any type of online transaction.
According to Bloomberg, Samsung Research America, a division based in Silicon Valley, has researchers looking at using the so-called bitcoin blockchain to design better ways to verify “that what you say is authentic is authentic,” said Steven Rahman, director of strategy at the research division.
“The blockchain technology is very interesting in general, and it can be applied in a lot of areas,” Rahman added. “Currency, it’s just the first use case. You could imagine that anything, like prescriptions, could be managed with the blockchain technology.”
Rahman also states that Samsung Research America usually develops technologies that may be used in commercial products in two to five years. Still, he refused to provide additional information regarding the bitcoin project.
As for IBM, in January, the company issued a paper on the Autonomous Decentralized Peer-to-Peer Telemetry (ADEPT), a new decentralized Internet of Things system using the blockchain technology. International Business Machines Corp. intends to change the way people use the internet-connected devices. In short, it is aimed at avoiding the key problems faced by internet users, among others low privacy, high costs and inability to change. The system provides a cheaper architecture for the Internet of Things.
“Applying the blockchain concept to the world of [Internet of Things] offers fascinating possibilities. Right from the time a product completes final assembly, it can be registered by the manufacturer into a universal blockchain representing its beginning of life. Once sold, a dealer or end customer can register it to a regional blockchain (a community, city or state),” states the draft paper.
In March, the above-mentioned corporation announced its plans to start a new Internet of Things (IoT) unit, in which IBM was going to invest $3 billion during the next four years.
“Our knowledge of the world grows with every connected sensor and device, but too often, we are not acting on it, even when we know we can ensure a better result,” said Bob Picciano, senior vice president of IBM Analytics, commenting on the launch of the new IoT unit.
It’s also necessary to say that other giant companies are interested in the blockchain technology. So, Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. provides X-Stream trading technology for Noble Markets LLC., a start-up permitting companies to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, while Coinbase receives investements from the New York Stock Exchange and Amazon introduces Dash Button, a controller which allows customers to order products with one click via the Internet of Things.
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