The International Association of Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA) – a new European Union blockchain association – was launched last Thursday, and at the head of its leadership table are payment processing systems Ripple and SWIFT.
Ripple Takes the First Step
The irony here is that both organizations have done nothing but compete over the past year, with Ripple claiming it’s faster and more up-to-date than SWIFT. The latter, however, still garners the trust of financial institutions everywhere considering its time in business, and many have been reluctant to accept Ripple’s services over those of its primary competitor.
Nevertheless, it seems the adoption of blockchain technology in Europe is a shared – and equally important – goal for each platform. Both are putting their differences aside to head the association as they pave the way for blockchain adoption throughout the continent.
Overall, the organization has roughly 105 founding members at its table, including Bitfury, Consensys AG and iPoint. CEO of iPoint and co-founder of the blockchain startup Circular Tree Joerg Walden explained in a press release:
Since we view blockchain as an important enabler of the circular economy and the sustainable development goals, iPoint is very excited to be a founding member of INATBA. Blockchain has the potential to make products, processes and services more trusted, transparent and traceable, and thereby stimulate new business models which can contribute to sustainable economic growth.
Among the organization’s primary objectives will be to:
- Provide an open and transparent governance model for blockchain technology in Europe;
- Support further blockchain applications and build trust within the space;
- Develop further rules and regulations as blockchain becomes more mainstream.
Mariya Gabriel – European Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society – comments:
We are thrilled to see that over 100 companies and organizations have partnered together to help develop the framework for distributed ledger technologies in Europe. It clearly signifies that blockchain technology will be a driving force for our economy in the coming years, and through INATBA, we will be able to foster an environment that encourages the application of the technology across the EU member states.
Among the financial backers for INATBA are the European Commission, the World Bank, UNICEF, the OECD and the European Investment Bank. These include mainstream monetary institutions, suggesting that Europe is on a roll to bring cryptocurrencies, blockchain and other emerging technologies to common citizens’ palates.
With Blockchain Comes More Trust
Gabriel added further to her statement, expressing her full-blown enthusiasm for blockchain and what it can do:
In today’s economy, there is less and less time to build trust in the way it happened in the past. To fight cancer, to balance renewable energy, to trace the authenticity of goods, actors must be able to trust one another without meeting face-to-face, and how can we achieve this? Of course, with the help of blockchain.