IBM wants to use Bitcoin technology for its own payments platform

We haven’t heard much about Bitcoin over the past few months aside from a few exchanges being hacked but this latest bit of news could be one of the biggest yet. Apparently IBM is examining the underlying technology behind the popular cryptocurrency to develop its own digital cash and payment system for global currencies that would enable people to make payments or transfer cash instantaneously without needing to use a third party. 

International Business Machines Corp is considering adopting the underlying technology behind bitcoin, known as the “blockchain,” to create a digital cash and payment system for major currencies, according to a person familiar with the matter. The objective is to allow people to transfer cash or make payments instantaneously using this technology without a bank or clearing party involved, saving on transaction costs, the person said. The transactions would be in an open ledger of a specific country’s currency such as the dollar or euro, said the source, who declined to be identified because of a lack of authorization to discuss the project in public. The blockchain – a ledger, or list, of all of a digital currency’s transactions – is viewed as bitcoin’s main technological innovation, allowing users to make payments anonymously, instantly, and without government regulation.