In a potential tectonic shift, industry heavyweights form a blockchain alliance

Last week, four of the world’s largest automakers (Ford, GM, BMW and Renault) launched a blockchain1 alliance that could represent a tectonic shift, not just in the adoption of blockchain tech, but also in the race to lead the next iteration of the “automobile” industry.

The short version is that the new working group—called the Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative (MOBI)—is aiming to put blockchain tech into your car, for use cases as diverse as vehicle identity and ownership, ridesharing, payments, navigation, insurance, and many others. But while the group was founded by four automakers, it’s also open to energy companies, infrastructure providers, and public transportation providers, potentially expanding the connectivity of automobile-based blockchains to a much larger transit network.

Another important development is that MOBI is looking to create standards for data to have property rights. Legacy tech players like Apple and Google are vying to get the data you produce in your car so that they can aggregate and monetize it—never mind their efforts to actually design and build the next generation of cars. MOBI potentially represents an end-run around the programs of legacy tech leaders, making customers’ data self-sovereign and giving consumers control over data property rights associated with transportation.

Why is this potentially a tectonic shift? Because it has the potential to disrupt the growth plans of legacy tech into the auto sector.

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Crypto-Custody Solutions on the Horizon for Institutions

The New York Times reported last week that Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, is planning to open a digital currency exchange where institutional investors can buy, trade and hold bitcoins. Included in the plan would be one-day swaps2 contracts that “end with the customer owning Bitcoin the next day — with the backing and security of the exchange.”