The logo of Switzerland's Swisscom telecommunications is seen at an office building in Zurich, Switzerland November 22, 2016. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

ZURICH (Reuters) - Swisscom SCMN.S is establishing a new blockchain unit to develop applications, including for possible solutions to enable off-exchange trading, the Swiss government-owned phone company said on Thursday.

Swisscom will hold a 70 percent stake in Swisscom Blockchain Ltd, with the remaining 30 percent held by its founding partners. Daniel Haudenschild is moving from EY to Swisscom to head the unit.

Blockchain technology maintains a record of transactions through a network of computers rather than one centralized authority, and was first conceived as a way to trade the digital currency bitcoin.