Spot the Difference? “IC3” Blockchain Group Gains First Financial Member

Blockchain focus group the Initiative for CryptoCurrencies & Contracts (IC3) has gained its first financial member in the form of Boston-based Fidelity Investments.

IC3, which consists of Cornell University, University of California at Berkeley, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Technion, IBM and Intel, aims to bring “computer science legacy” to bear on examining how Blockchain technology can work for business.

“What IC3 brings is that academic computer science legacy that can help us explore how this technology can be applied,” Hadley Stern, senior vice president at Fidelity Labs, told Reuters.

The asset manager is particularly interested in repurchase agreement transactions, the publication added.

Blockchain focus groups already in existence include R3 Consortium (R3 CEV) and the newly-incarnated Enterprise Ethereum Alliance.

While the latter expressly focuses on Ethereum’s decentralized tools, R3 has taken a less Blockchain-centric stance in recent times. Now exclusively using the term “distributed ledger” to refer to private Blockchains for banks and other financial institutions, the group even said it “didn’t need a Blockchain” for its flagship Corda product.

Discussing IC3’s goals, however, Co-Director Emin Gün Sirer steered clear of the topic of decentralization:

“Expected outcomes of our work include new blockchain and smart contract technologies that are secure, incrementally deployable, and efficient to meet the industry’s needs,” he said.