Bitcoin Points Way to ‘Massive Change’ for Commodity Businesses

  • Blockchain ledgers can cut trading costs, minimize fraud risk
  • Promise of more security, fewer documents draws BP, Tyson, UBS

Bitcoin: What’s Coming in the Year Ahead

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Blockchain is upending the world’s financial markets with the rise of bitcoin, and now the digital-ledger system is poised to do the same next year for raw materials like food and energy.

Companies including BP Plc, ABN Amro Group NV and Mercuria Energy Group Ltd. said last month they will adapt blockchain to streamline physical energy transactions. In October, four banks joined a venture started by UBS Group AG and International Business Machines Corp. to use the technology in a platform for the global goods trade. Natixis SA and Trafigura Group Ltd. announcedBloomberg Terminal in March they will employ the system to finance buying and selling oil.