The aim of BMT Bina is to have sukuk issuance on the blockchain to fund micro-SMEs and entrepreneurs. The use of blockchain is expected to reduce issuance costs and attract retail investors, according to Khalid Howladar, Chief Strategy Officer at Blossom Finance.

BMT Bina used the SmartSukuk platform introduced by Blossom Finance. According to Blossom Finance CEO Matthew Martin, the SmartSukuk platform makes micro investments accessible, transparent and tradeable — by overcoming the existing conventional barriers in financing. 

Blossom Finance launched the SmartSukuk platform in May last year. The platform was launched to standardise and automate the bonds’ legal, accounting and payment systems. 

The SmartSukuk platform uses ethereum smart contracts to boost efficiency and put sukuk issuance on a global scale. 

BMT Bina Ummah is an Islamic micro finance cooperative based in Yogyakarta. The institution also supports micro-SMEs and entrepreneurs who do not receive conventional financing. BMT Bina general manager Arif Yuliyanto, told the media that, “The additional funds provided by this sukuk offers longer term stable funding and increases the overall amount of financing that we can offer our members.”

In recent times, Islamic finance companies are including environment-friendly and sustainable models in finance to attract all types of target audience in the Gulf and Southeast Asia. 

Technologies such as blockchain and smart contracts are playing a vital role in the bonds market.

The post World’s first blockchain sukuk: BMT Bina Ummah raises $50K appeared first on International Finance.

Mr Howes said: “Crime has been a considerable problem that has persisted for centuries, one that’s affected artists including da Vinci, and Van Gogh.

“The case this week of the stolen Picasso masterpiece that was recovered 20 years later shows you that crime is a problem that continues to plague our industry, impacting artists, collectors and galleries.

“Indeed, it’s a problem that seems to be on the rise.  It has been reported that the vast majority of art and antiquities on major retail bidding sites are thought to be artistic fakes.  Meanwhile, according to research, more than 90 per cent of museum art thefts involves an insider, often using high level forgery techniques to produce fakes.

“This is where the ground-breaking, game-changing blockchain technology comes in.

“It provides the ability to store a permanent, immutable record of artwork at the point of creation or beyond which can be used to authenticate registered works by anyone with an internet connection.

“Tracking these valuable pieces and registering their records creates a chain of custody that documents their ownership and transfer. This can include noting the pieces’ auctions, sale values, shipment and other verified information without disclosing sensitive personal data of the owners.”

Thomas Crown Art, which uses blockchain for such provenance purposes, has also gone a step further and created a mechanism to use physical artwork as a store of value by ‘walletising’ each piece of art and linking it to a Certificate of Provenance stored on the blockchain in a ‘smART contract’—enabling the option to use the physical artwork itself as a wallet making it capable of storing cryptocurrency.

“If blockchain had been around 20 years ago, it might well have stopped this incredible Picasso piece being lost for more than two decades.

“We now have the tech. And this case should serve as a wake-up call for the art world to invest more in blockchain to protect artists, galleries, and private owners and collectors, and drive confidence and global sales.

The post How blockchain can save the $40 billion art market appeared first on International Finance.