TOKYO, June 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Mizuho Financial Group and IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced today a test of the potential of blockchain for use in settlements with virtual currency.  By incorporating blockchain technology into settlements with virtual currency, Mizuho will explore how payments can be instantaneously swapped, potentially leading to new financial services based on this rapidly evolving technology. The pilot project uses the open source code IBM contributed to the Hyperledger Project.

"Mizuho Financial Group has a history of adopting new technologies to continuously improve customer services," said Masahiko Katou, Senior Technical Officer, Mizuho Financial Group. "In an era of technology transformation, Mizuho is testing blockchain, Watson, and other technologies to deliver high quality and more efficient customer services."

Mizuho is working with the newly-opened IBM Bluemix Garage in Tokyo, which offers IBM Blockchain services, including blockchain application development using Bluemix, IBM's cloud platform, and assessments to determine the best uses for blockchain within the enterprise and across various industries. Based on global insights across various industries and the experience of system development at Mizuho FG, IBM is helping the bank transform the design and development of business applications using blockchain.

"Mizuho Financial Group is a leading financial institution known for adopting advanced technologies such as IBM Watson," said Masao Sanbe, Managing Director, Industry Sales, IBM Japan. "IBM understands how to use blockchain and IBM Cloud as the technology foundation to transform the way businesses interact with their ecosystem of trading partners. IBM is proud to continue to support Mizuho Financial Group's important initiatives."

Mizuho has a long history of promoting projects that create new customer experiences and business value by applying technologies in response to changes in environments inside and outside Japan.

IBM is actively working with hundreds of clients to understand what it takes to make blockchain ready for business. Through its open source contributions and resources for blockchain software developers, IBM is advancing the science of blockchain, helping to remove complexity, and making it more accessible and open. Financial services, supply chains, IoT, risk management, digital rights management and healthcare are some of the areas that are poised for dramatic change using blockchain networks.

For more information about Mizuho Financial Group, visit: www.mizuho-fg.co.jp/english/.

For more information about the IBM Bluemix Garage in Tokyo, visit www.ibm.com/cloud-computing/bluemix/garage/jp-ja/.

For more information about IBM Blockchain, visit: www.ibm.com/blockchain.

Contact:
Francine U. Fiano
1-914-766-4434
fufiano@us.ibm.com

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SOURCE IBM