Computing giant IBM has recently announced a new low-cost starter plan for startups to build blockchain projects. The company in its official blog post stated that with the new Blockchain Starter plan that is currently in the beta phase, the company aims to encourage and facilitate the use of blockchain to businesses of any scale and size.
As far as the IBM Blockchain plan remains in the beta version of operation, it will be free for customers, but once it becomes fully implemented it will have the first 30 days of free use and will later switch to a paid model.
CNBC in its report mention that “The service is a cheaper alternative to Big Blue’s current enterprise plan for firms looking to develop blockchain applications.”
However, IBM’s blockchain, in this case, will be different from the public distributed ledger technology of Bitcoin and other digital currencies. The IBM technology will allow only a certain number of trusted parties to get access to its blockchain platform. Such a blockchain is referred to as “permissioned” blockchain. Some businesses say that they are better off using the permissoned blockchain as they are designed to keep transactions data private and are more tamper proof.
In an email to CNBC on Wednesday, Marie Wieck, general manager of IBM Blockchain, said: “The new plan is perfect for pilot projects and early stage development work for those who want to build solutions on the IBM blockchain platform which currently has over 250 active blockchain networks. Our expertise in building and scaling networks is invaluable and will be shared across a wide ecosystem.”
IBM also announces the launch of new services with an aim to help businesses explore and monetize their own blockchain applications. Using IBM’s technology, a lot of companies are said to piloting the blockchain technology.
Wieck said that IBM is more focused on blockchain technology rather than in digital assets. She said: “IBM’s bet is on the blockchain technology underneath cryptocurrencies since it powers new multi-party transactions and business models.”
In October 2017, IBM partnered with blockchain startup Stellar and crypto exchange service KlickEx with an aim to create a platform which allows banks instant clear and settle payments. For this project, IBM has been using Stellar’s digital tokens ‘lumens’ as a part of the partnership and as a “bridge to speed real time clearing and settlement,” said Wieck.
IBM has been working on several different projects in the blockchain space. Earlier this year in January, the firm said that it planning to float a new company in joint collaboration with Danish shipping firm Moller-Maersk that aims at simplifying global trade between two companies by using the blockchain technology.
IBM has also joined the consortium of global food companies in a joint effort to trace food contamination in supply by using the blockchain technology.
