Linux & Hyperledger: Open Standard will Fast-Track Blockchain Technology

The Linux Foundation is setting its sights on the blockchain target with its latest move to push the Hyperledger project. The program is a collaborative effort “created to advance blockchain technology,” and is an effort backed by Blythe Masters’ Digital Asset Holdings. Just recently Masters’ company donated the Hyperledger trademark and it moved to the open source Linux foundation. Now the nonprofit has added 30 members to the project that includes representatives from banks, tech firms, and other financial services.

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Hyperledger Gets a Boost from Financial & Open Source Industries

As well as the additional members added to the team code proposals have been submitted to “advance blockchain technology.” When the Hyperledger project was announced in December many companies including Digital Asset Holdings, Ripple, IBM, and Blockstream added contributions to the strategy.

Hyperledger contributions get reviewed by the newly formed Technical Steering Committee (TSC), which the nonprofit says, “is comprised of industry-leading technical experts.” TSC will evaluate contributions helping the build out process and a unified codebase. Jim Zemlin, executive director at The Linux Foundation, said in the announcement:

The Hyperledger Project has ramped up incredibly fast, a testament to how much pent-up interest, potential and enterprise demand there is for a cross-industry open standard for distributed ledgers. Working on its own even the largest global corporation could not match the speed at which our new members are moving blockchain technology forward. Such a broad effort and investment is sure to have a great impact on our personal and professional lives.

The list of backers for the Hyperledger project include:

ABN AMRO, Accenture, ANZ Bank, Blockchain, BNY Mellon, Calastone, Cisco, CLS, CME Group, ConsenSys, Credits, The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), Deutsche Börse Group, Digital Asset Holdings, Fujitsu Limited, Guardtime, Hitachi, IBM, Intel, IntellectEU, J.P. Morgan, NEC, NTT DATA, R3, Red Hat, State Street, SWIFT, Symbiont, VMware, and Wells Fargo.

These investors and associates are all interested in broadening the horizon of blockchain technology and the Internet of Things. They believe this technology will bring a vast array of use cases and better streamline the business process. Linux, open source technology, has been estimated to be worth billions today, and Hyperledger is meant to help distributed ledgers fit right in the equation. The Linux Foundation says, “By creating a cross-industry open standard for distributed ledgers, virtually any digital exchange with value, such as real estate contracts, energy trades, marriage licenses, can securely and cost-effectively be tracked and traded.” Former JP Morgan executive Blythe Masters believes Hyperledger is a landmark for the blockchain technology saying:

The formation of Hyperledger marks a milestone in the advancement of distributed ledger technology — Digital Asset believes that it is vital for shared infrastructure to be open to critical inspection and collaboration, and this initiative will be pivotal in driving the global adoption of solutions to real-world problems.

The Hyperledger project has also announced its ratified governance model. The plan will be to add a board of directors to help guide business, marketing and voting in TSC members. The Linux Foundation’s collaborative Hyperledger work can be reviewed by subscribing to the TSC or Technical-Discuss mailing lists at lists.hyperledger.org. Bitcoin.com will continue to keep our readers up-to-date with the latest developments from this distributed ledger project.

What do you think about the Hyperledger project? Let us know in the comments below!

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Digital Asset Holdings Website, and Linux Foundation