Lately, both private and public sectors have turned their gaze on blockchain and distributed ledger technologies (DLT) to pilot innovative solutions in their everyday practices.
Similar technology applications have taken an upward trend in recent years. A regulatory sandbox LBChain run by the Bank of Lithuania is but one from many examples coming to aid Lithuanian and international financial and FinTech companies and start-ups in gaining knowledge, conducting research, and testing and applying blockchain services, thereby giving a better value to clients. The LBChain platform is capable to immediately respond to issues faced by financial innovators. It is true that innovators have bold and advanced ideas, but they often lack general knowledge and experience in financial ecosystem, legal issues, and applicable regulations. LBChain attends to these needs and offers solutions for testing products in a safe and innovation-conducive environment.
A Blockchain Centre of Excellence was opened up in Vilnius on 16 September to keep up the momentum in consolidating the trend.
It is expected to strengthen and solidify cooperation between world’s major blockchain technology centres in Melbourne, Shanghai, Sydney, and Dubai.
Blockchain Lithuania aspirations have been solidified through a symbolic signing of the memorandum. The co-generators of the initiative – NGO Crypto Economy Organisation, the BCCS cluster and its innovative member SuperHow have pooled their efforts and expertise to become leading members of Blockchain Lithuania.
Blockchain Lithuania as an open platform
Open to anyone interested, the centre enables one stop shop-based cooperation among stakeholders, companies, and regulators towards advancement of new generation block chain technologies and capabilities. Alongside the blockchain technology, the centre will also focus on programming, cyber security, compliance, money laundering prevention (AML), KYC, data privacy and other related fields.
According to Marius Jurgilas, Chair of the CBDC working group of the Innovation Network of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the opening of Blockchain Lithuania is an extraordinary event: ‘Blockchain technologies call for exceptional competencies and close interactions, and it is exactly what this centre is about.”
Blockchain Lithuania is expected to bring together academic and business communities and the public at large. One of the biggest challenges the blockchain faces is shortage of applications not only in developing new business models and products but also in bettering public services. That is why the co-founders of the centre, will work, both nationally as well as internationally, to support and educate private and public sector organisations willing to have in-house applications of blockchain and distributed ledger technologies.
Andrius Bartminas, CEO of SUPER HOW, a private research and innovation lab says: ‘We will work to dispel myths and foster a medium conducive to an open exchange on chainblocks, on what they are and how they should be handled.
The Blockchain Centre of Excellence has been made possible through the successful cooperation efforts from the BCCS (Blockchain, Cyber Security and Compliance Solutions) cluster and financial support from the Science, Innovation and Technology Agency (MITA) in the framework of the project InoLink, and the Lithuanian Innovation Centre.
