Blockchain Startup May Get Funded By Singapore’s Central Bank

Blockchain technology is one of the key innovations that Singapore’s central bank and financial regulator, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), it looks to dig in as part of its nation-wise plan into building a Smart Financial Center.

Reflecting the authority’s interest in blockchain technology, Startupbootcamp Fintech Singapore 2015, a program backed by MAS that aims to boost the most promising projects, has picked three blockchain startups to integrate its top ten finalists list.

Among them, Open Trade Docs, a product of 25MOD Pte Ltd. that provides a system for sharing dematerialized trade documents with a focus on efficiency and fraud prevention.
open doc logoBuilt on a customized Nxt blockchain, an open source decentralized payment network and cryptocurrency, Open Trade Docs help users, banks, importers and exporters, certify documents, digitalize them, and get them delivered in real time, while making it impossible to duplicate them.

Like databases, which store much more than just text data, blockchains can be modified and improved to host identities and documents. In the case of Open Trade Docs, the blockchain allows them to put into practice key concepts of trade finance as non-repudiation, accountability and duplicate-free document handling.

What makes Open Trade Docs different from other solutions is that its system pools all documents related to a transaction in a single common folder, meaning that once the documents are uploaded, they can be viewed any time by any number of authorized persons rather than having to be individually sent and received.

Additionally, by using blockchain technology, document statuses can be check nearly in real time, enabling better fraud prevention. Plus, digital signatures are recognized as a legal proof in many countries.

„[Open Trade Docs] is a powerful fraud prevention tool to insure all the banks are safe from fraud and importers are not getting scammed ever again. Let’s keep Singapore the leading country in the international trade.“

OTD team

The Startup was part of the Startupbootcamp Fintech Singapore 2015 and has already started a pilot with a leading bank in Asia. They said to be in talks with the government of Singapore to have its system being mass adopted.

By reading the MAS speach and watching OTC Video we conclude that they have a really good chance to get funding out of the 225 Mio SGD Fintech programm.

 

Read also about Blockchain Trade Finance here.

 

7 Kommentare

  1. Hello, I am Roberto Capodieci, the CEO of OTDocs. While I want to thank you for the attention on our venture, I would like to let you know that the title is misleading: „Blockchain Startup Gets Funded by Singapore’s Central Bank“ is not a true statement… We did participate to a startup program sponsored by the Singaporean government, the Infocomm department, but we did not receive funding from Singapore central bank.

  2. Dear Roberto. We made the wrong conclusion by reading this „MAS said: „I am happy to announce that MAS will commit $225 million over the next five years under the “FSTI” scheme to provide support for the creation of a vibrant ecosystem for innovation. […] Some examples of FSTI-supported institution-level projects that are ongoing include:

    a decentralised record-keeping system based on block chain technology to prevent duplicate invoicing in trade finance;“
    http://www.mas.gov.sg/news-and-publications/speeches-and-monetary-policy-statements/speeches/2015/a-smart-financial-centre.aspx

    together with watching your Youtube Video for us it was kind of obvious. you guys said that you are in talks with a government, mentioning multiple times Singapore. And on the other hand, MAS managing director says explicitly they are supporting a blockchain record keeping system for trade finance.
    But we are very sorry for our wrong conclusion. However, we hope it may come true.

  3. I see how it may have seemed an obvious conclusion and I am sure it is a mistake done in good faith. Next time invest 5 minutes in an email or phone call to double check with us 🙂 I am happy if you publish about us, just making sure it is correct information!

    Roberto

  4. sure we will do that Roberto. thanks and sorry again 😉

  5. […] online authentication process by giving everyone a blockchain ID to login around the web. Also OpenTradeDocs based in Singapore is using the blockchain technology to check document statuses and enabling […]

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