Volkswagen will be joining the blockchain initiative for responsible material sourcing providing for enhanced transparency into the supply chains in minerals.

A recent press release published:  “Joining the collaboration will enable Volkswagen Group to gain greater insight into the provenance of cobalt used in lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and other types of minerals used elsewhere in the production of vehicles.”

The IBM Blockchain Platform backed by the Linux Foundation’s Hyperledger Fabric has been used to build the platform. The process provides for tracing the place of origin of minerals and therefore making the data available for all the participants in the network.  Ford Motor Company, IBM, Huayou Cobalt, and LG Chem are members to name in the process. The network will be expanding to industries like aerospace, consumer electronics, and will as well be involved in mining operations.

In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin has moved up by 3.92%, Ethereum is up by 4.87%, and XRP up by 1.16%.

Shawn P. McCarthy, IDC Government Insights research director, stated they believed in “asset management, identity management, and smart contracts will be the leading blockchain solutions for government.” He further added, “Early spending to help focus on supply chain and asset management solutions, thereby spending in later years will expand to include more identity management and complex financial transactions.”

Yaaang Gaaang, Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang, the Democratic Nominee has plans to bring in regulatory clarity to the digital asset space in a way to protect consumers providing for as much innovation as possible.  He expects to champion progressive legislation for cryptocurrency like the Token Taxonomy Act, and the cryptocurrency acts like that of Wyoming.

Institutionalized cross-border blockchain payment solution has been widely discussed to provide for enterprise usage.  IBM has invested in blockchain technology and cryptocurrency.  The Giant has been focusing on hybrid cloud technology, and it is expected to bear fruit in the short term.

Ever since the beginning of this year, IBM has gained 26%, and it has dropped 8% over the past 12 months. Analysts are recommending to hold IBM stocks.  One of the businesses who was trying to provide cryptocurrency solutions stated, “The biggest barrier for something like World Wire to get off the ground is the traditional banking system and its resistance to innovation.”

For several banks moving to stable coins like XRP, JPM Coin, or World-Wire is just not worth as their customers are not demanding the speed and low cost as available in blockchain transactions, and the fact several banks are making increased revenue on wire fees and the like.