Bitcoin Forum

Three big banks in three different continents (New York, London and Singapore) are actively exploring blockchain technology.
source: http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/31prie/three_big_banks_in_three_different_continents_new/


1. UBS Bank open an innovation lab in London for blockchain technology exploration
http://www.finextra.com/news/fullstory.aspx?newsitemid=27195

2. Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon
http://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2015/04/05/bny-mellon-explores-bitcoins-potential/

3. DBS Bank in Singapore held Blockchain competition with $33,000 reward
http://www.startupbootcamp.org/blockchainhack.html

what say you?

They have to come up with something to counter the disruptive force of Bitcoin or they will go down with the traditional / old Fiat banking model.

They are past the "ignore" stage of the disruptive process.... They will now fight back with a competing technology. {You will find that they will have a centralized / in-house version of the blockchain, with much less anonymity and scalable coins}

The direct opposite, of what Satoshi's vision was with the Blockchain.  >:(

I say they do it to get to know their enemy better. Also, I think they are more interested in blockchain technology then BTC.

They just following the Stream

bankrupt and no doubt in search of something they think can help them

and it wont

AISI, bitcoin is a decentralised system while fiat is centralised. There no doubt is a plethora of systems in between those two extremes, just as there is between arrays and linked lists. Governments, banks. firms etc will find the systems that best fit their own purpose. It won't be bitcoin but so what? They don't, in general, want a totally decentralised system. They want to have some control over the system, and that may be a selling point (many think that state control of their dosh is a good thing, or is better than no control at all, as they see it).  Satoshi let the cat out the bag, only it's not just one cat but a whole clutter of them and there's nothing to stop them from breeding.

this could be a good bitcoin enemy, if it wasn't for the fact that those banks will use the blockchain technology in a wrong way, in the sense that they will end up with a centralized system, which the opposite of bitcoin is

no need to worry about this

It's unfortunate so many bitcoiners are delusional to this "decentralized" hype. 99.999% of people don't get a pile of elephant feces about decentralization. No one cares. As far as they're concerned, big banks are a lot more trustworthy than some anarchist internet nerds.


Do you really think that people will one day wake up and realize how glorious decentralization is and how it will solve all of the world's problems? Please.


If bitcoiners actually thought about things from an objective and realistic perspective, and took steps to ensure bitcoins success, I think bitcoin has a good chance. But if everyone is so delusional, then bank or government crypto is going to completely overtake bitcoin, and bitcoin will either die or just used by a few anarchist/libertarians.

Banks probably have a worse reputation right now than at any other point in history.  People only put up with them because they don't think there's an alternative.  They don't need to "wake up and realise" anything, they just need to see something that works and provides a practical benefit and that's what we're working towards.

Also most people don't give a crap about anything important, which is why everything is celebrity gossip and reality tv these days.  That doesn't mean we should stop doing what we're doing and it doesn't mean we aren't going to see a surge in use in the future.

Your post also assumes the global economy getting better, but not all of us see that happening.  Since banks now have their dirty little fingers in so many pies, all it takes is for a few markets to take a downturn and they're suddenly in deep financial trouble.  If more bail-ins like Cyprus happen, you can bet people won't be prepared to tolerate that and will be looking for a way out.

people don't give a crap about centralization either, you are really naive if you think otherwise, they just use banks to store money because they are accustomed to it there is no other reasons, the humanity is lazy animal, they want everything ready, don't like big change and other lazy things like that.

bitcoin success isn't a thing that a man can achieve, it need time/adoption and the fix of numerous weaknesses(like 51%, various unknown bugs in the client, ecc...)

Well that's nice indeed, but that is just exploration. Even if any member of this hackathon does something really nice, I wouldn't expect anything open to the public so soon(2016 maybe). Remember that the database of a bank is centralized and that the info will always stay there, so trying to make some use to the blockchain making any use of that database is a BIG problem.

I don't think bitcoins are 'delusional to "decentralized" hype'. Sure it is a benefit to most here but that's not the only selling point. I think you have to admit it really has the potential at least to shake up the current banking system or payment processors. There's also a multitude of uses for it as an alternative currency and remittance tool.

Well if they were smart I should think they would at least be looking at it. Its a fantastic technology and I'm sure they're looking on how to capitalize on it. It's not just the banks that are exploring it either with corporations like IBM and a few others trying to adopt the blockchain technology or create their own. I think it will become quite influential over time.

Like they say if they don't adapt, change and enhance their technology to catch up with the latest trend, eventually their monopoly is going to be disrupted. But looks like they are more interested in adapting blockchain technology into their own systems rather than bitcoin itself.

This would be my bet also, but they can't do anything without bitcoin, blockchain technology is only strong and secure because of so many miners.

Not some control.They want ALL the control! They do not want competition. 'Cause competition in finance means a cut off profit margin losing market shares and losing power over nations and societies.

When central bank fiat fails, yes they will.

And UK gov is providing 10m pounds for research on blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies. They've included bitcoin in their fintech report for 2015 too. :)

Even if banks have a worse reputation right now than any other point in history, banks in general still has a better reputation than bitcoin. The current bitcoin doesn't provide a practical benefit for the majority of the people.

No, they don't give about centralization. I never said they did. You're falling into the logical fallacy of assuming the converse is always true.

Your point that humans are lazy is exactly the point I was trying to make.

I also agree that it's not the only selling point. In fact, I would say it is the biggest disadvantage and obstacle in an otherwise great technology.

Look, I think you guys are misunderstanding my point. I'm not saying bitcoin will fail. I'm saying if people keep thinking that bitcoin will succeed without anyone doing anything because decentralization is so freaking amazing, they're being delusional. For bitcoin to succeed, there needs to be thousands or tens of thousands of people working hard to make it more usable, more secure, and bring benefit to the average person. It won't succeed just because it's decentralized, and there is a long and tough road ahead. It's not hard for banks/governments to make the media write negatively about decentralization and telling people they need banks and the government, and given how stupid/lazy normal people sheep are, they'll just believe it without researching anything themselves.

It's a really tough road, and we should be doing all we can to get it going, to make it go mainstream, if we really believe in this technology. Because it's not going to that by itself.

They will look for a centralized solution of Blockchain. Nothing innovative then.
I recommend to watch this video for everybody.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlmtUEQ3Bc8&feature=youtu.be (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlmtUEQ3Bc8&feature=youtu.be)

As much as I love bitcoin I really cannot see it being a direct or genuine threat to their monopoly and most certainly not within our lifetime. I'm sure they can learn something from it or bitcoin might make them change their ways in certain aspects of their business model but people will always need banks and loans etc.

the Video is Andreas the Author of Mastering Bitcoin

and I don't think Andreas quite knows how big the world of Drugs is,

its Gigantic and it probably has an economy bigger than the United States

not even including Alcohol or prescription drugs,
 

Yepp. In this video he is explaining pretty well the actual situation about "Blockchain technology" and what are companies and banks are trying to do.

He knows quiete well. In several of his videos he said that drugs are 2nd most traded commodities after food.

its way more than food, food would be well down the list after military housing oil drugs prositution

Yeah what ever you say man.
Fact is AA knows!

if your being sarcastic thats really funny

if not  :-*

thanks for the link, Denker. Enjoyed the full length of the video. Andreas is the man!

You're welcome mate. ;)
Found it in the press section.

Sure thing. Blockchain technology is a great stuff for the banking industry. Bitcoin itself is a nuisance :).

I can feel another 2015 award building here with Andreas already co leading with Gavin, and Satoshi third

Nice you realized. :D ;)
No serious. You can not deny Andreas knows what he is talking about. But can he predict the future of Bitcoin and blockchain tech and how it will evolve in the future or what banks or going to do except the news we read the last weeks, and if it will work or not? Of course not! No one can.
So I don't know what you will do but I will follow the whole thing and watch it. Time will tell.That's it.