Raiffeisen Bank International first Austrian bank to join the Blockchain Research Institute

„All functions of management will change. We expect this technology to reconfigure the architecture of the firm and the nature of competitiveness. It’s already demonstrating its ability to lower transaction costs and eliminate the third parties needed to establish trust.“ (Blockchain Research Institute, Manifesto)

Raiffeisen Bank International today announced to be the first Austrian bank to join the Blockchain Research Institute, a global think tank that guides its more than 55 members in achieving success in blockchain-related projects in the areas of financial services, manufacturing, retail, energy and resources, technology and media, healthcare as well as government.

Founded in 2017, already 55 members

„Blockchain is a team sport, where it takes numerous qualified players to be successful in the field. We have decided to join the Blockchain Research Institute to get access to state-of- the-art research on the technology itself, which will enable us to continue our work on use cases for our industry. At this point, we are especially interested in trade finance, capital markets, security services and identity management, where we see great potential for our corporate customers,“ says Johann Strobl, CEO of Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI).

Tapscott: advocate for cryptosphere

Don Tapscott is the head of the Tapscott Group and the think tank New Paradigm. The thought leader has a clear opinion when it comes to regulations of cryptocurrencies. In January, he warned the government of South Corea against interfering with the hemisphere of the ICOs and crypto exchanges. Otherwise „it could destroy the economy for decades“. He called legal restrictions „methods used by dictators and undemocratic countries.“