Euromoney, November 2016
There will be many steps in the process of making blockchain technologies widespread in trade finance, but a crucial one was taken in October by Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Wells Fargo and a shipment of fine Texan cotton. The transaction – delivering the cotton from Texas to Qingdao using Skuchain’s Brackets distributed ledger system – was important for three reasons.
First, it is believed to be the first global trade transaction between two unrelated banks. Previous blockchain trades may well have been done between two banks that are technically separate entities but actually part of the same group. CBA and Wells think this is the first cross-border trade finance involving two different banks to use blockchain.
Second, it uses blockchain technology in combination with two other emerging technologies – smart contracts and the so-called internet of things. And third, it involved an international physical shipment.
Full article: http://www.euromoney.com/Article/3601960/Fintech-Blockchain-landmarks-point-to-transformation-of-trade-finance