The BRICS group of the largest emerging economies has revealed an intention to research the technology behind cryptocurrencies, the blockchain, it emerged after their 10th Annual Meeting in Johannesburg on Thursday. The state development banks of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa signed a memorandum of understanding, which aims to see if and how distributed ledger technology (DLT) can help them in the new digital era, the so-called 4th Industrial Revolution, Russia’s Vnesheconombank (VEB) revealed in a statement.
Blockchain, developed as a DLT, has broadened its implementations in various industries outside the crypto world. Built as a DLT, it has the capabilities to faster transactions, to cut the time for making a deal by automatically generated smart contracts, and to bring transparency as it tracks all activities.
“Vnesheconombank works with the development banks of BRICS countries in a range of key areas, including financial cooperation, developing credit financing in national currencies and implementation of innovations [..]
The current agreement allows the development banks of BRICS countries to study the applications of innovative technologies in infrastructure finance and bank products optimization,” Mikhail Poluboyarinov, first deputy chairman and member of the board of directors of Vnesheconombank, said in the statement.
Along with VEB, Brazil’s Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES), Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank), China Development Bank (CDB), and Development Bank of Southern Africa Limited (DBSA) are part of the project. The memorandum of understating is not an obligatory document, it represents the intention of the five countries to study blockchain.
Each country will decide how will participate in the research as they have different approaches towards crypto. China imposed a full ban on digital coin trading last year, while India’s central bank has recently prohibited commercial banks from dealings with cryptocurrencies. On the other side, Russia, is working on a virtual currency law that will create legal framework for crypto companies.
This article appeared first on Cryptovest
