CryptoBLK is launching a blockchain-based open account trade finance trial program called ATLAS Alpha Network in January and February 2020. The trial program is getting full support from Micosoft and will run all the ATLAS blockchain nodes on Microsoft Azure. The ATLAS Alpha Network is a four-week trial program which allows banks, financiers and corporates with significant open account trade finance businesses to have a hands-on experience on CryptoBLK’s ATLAS platform.
In just two weeks since its announcement, over 25 organizations have already signed up for participating in the ATLAS Alpha Network. ATLAS is a DLT-based open account trade finance platform developed by CryptoBLK, aiming at digitizing the end-to-end process of various trade finance workflows spanning from invoice financing, factoring, to purchase order financing and pre- or post-shipment financing.
The global trade finance gap is estimated at around $1.5 trillion due to the heavily paper-based and redundant processes, according to Asian Development Bank[1]. SMEs are facing considerable barriers, more than 40% of SME trade finance applications are rejected. However, there is an increasing trend that banks are using technology, such as Blockchain, to bridge the finance gap and service more SMEs.
During the four-week trial program of the ATLAS Alpha Network, CryptoBLK will conduct trainings with trial participants, and provide DLT node deployment and hosting on Microsoft Azure in different continents simultaneously.
Dr Duncan Wong, the CEO of CryptoBLK, said: “Our core mission is to build the best fintech system possible for our customers. Our DLT solution ATLAS enables enhanced trust and transparency in the trade finance processes, and unlocks new business opportunities in the trade finance industry. We are excited to launch the ATLAS Alpha Network and grateful to the support from our strategic partner Microsoft. ATLAS is offering to more companies with more efficient access to trade finance worldwide, and allowing them to grow their businesses worldwide.”
ATLAS is now available on Microsoft Azure which gives the highest level of security and reliability in the industry. By hosting ATLAS on Azure, CryptoBLK delivers an improved customer experience by providing a single infrastructure for banks and clients to manage their transactions — regardless of geolocation, type of transaction, and industry. ATLAS is built on R3 Corda, which ensures that all counterparties involved can securely and seamlessly transact with each other in a distributed and digitally signed and authenticated manner.
Connie Leung, Senior Director, Financial Services Business Lead-Asia Worldwide Financial Services, Microsoft said, “The last decade saw a lot of excitement about blockchain with more organizations having success in leveraging the technology to enable better, more efficient and secure business operations. We have been working closely with CryptoBLK in the past few years in supporting trade finance blockchain consortium using Azure Blockchain Service to streamline trade operations amongst banks and corporates globally. We are excited to partner with CyptoBLK to launch the new ATLAS Alpha Network services, utilizing Azure’s multi-layered security to empower companies to best meet their customers’ needs and unleash the true potential of the global trade ecosystem. As we look towards 2020 and beyond, we are committed to be our customers’ partners and assist them in achieving their goals through technology.”
The ATLAS Alpha Network will enable each organization to experience the benefits and features of ATLAS first-hand. If you are interested to test and run a trial for your organization, please contact [email protected]
ends/more
About CryptoBLK
CryptoBLK Limited is a technology company focusing on developing, deploying and operating Blockchain systems, aiming at making global impacts in the financial services industry by delivering software solutions and services based on Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT, a.k.a. Blockchain). Its mission is to unlock new possibilities, improve efficiency and productivity, and simplifying workflow and processes using DLT, that is secure, transparent and trustworthy.
As one of the most prominent world-leading DLT development and deployment teams, CryptoBLK has rich experience in building and operating industry-wide DLT platforms as well as custom-made DLT-based applications for the financial services industry and many other industries. Besides one-stop enterprise-grade Blockchain-based solutions, the team also provides consultancy service on digital asset management and DLT security assessment.
About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
[1]Asian Development Bank, 2019 Trade Finance Gaps, Growth, and Jobs Survey, https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/521096/adb-brief-113-2019-trade-finance-survey.pdf
