Agentic Group, a blockchain consortium headquartered in New York City, has expanded into the UK, introducing yesterday its London office. Agentic UK is the group’s second European office to be set up in the past month and follows the launch of Agentic France in June 2016.
Headed by serial entrepreneur and fintech veteran Lucas Cervigni, Agentic UK will focus on boosting the fintech sector following the Brexit vote in June, the group said in a media release.
The company plans to organize a series of events featuring prominent figures from the blockchain, digital currency community to educate corporates on the implications of these cutting edge technologies on their businesses.
“There is no doubt the number of debates on blockchain technology and digital currencies is increasing and will continue to do so, despite the Brexit vote,” Cervigni said. “It is our aim to enhance these conversations with insight into the world-changing opportunities these technologies offer from pioneers in the space.”
He continued:
“Representation in the UK is key for many reasons. Currently the fifth largest economy in the world, Britain boasts a strong history of excellence in the financial services sector. Outside of New York City, London has for decades been considered a financial hub where not just multi-national financial institutions are located but innovative financial technology startups choose to settle and grow.”
Founded in 2015, Agentic Group is a global coalition of over 30 blockchain and digital currency-related companies. It includes BitGive, Blockchain Clearing Corp., Loyyal (formerly known as Ribbit.me), Steemit and Consensus Systems (ConsenSys), among others.
The group provides insight, advice, consultation and development services to corporates, non-profit organizations and government agencies, and organizes events around the world to raise awareness about blockchain technology.
Blockchain consortia
Agentic Group is one of the numerous blockchain consortia that have emerged during the past two years as firms from all around the world are looking to explore and harness the potential of distributed ledger technology in hopes to gain in efficiency and cut costs.
The largest blockchain consortium to date is being led by New York-based fintech firm R3CEV and counts over 50 financial companies that have come together to research and develop blockchain usage in the financial sector.
Earlier this month, the consortium expanded its global presence with the addition of Absa Bank, the South African subsidiary of Barclays Africa Group.
Barclays Africa has been experimenting with blockchain for several months now, launching in mid-2015 an Africa-wide blockchain supply chain challenge through its Rise open innovation platform. In February this year, the bank co-hosted the second Blockchain and Bitcoin Africa Conference.
Barclays Africa currently has over ten blockchain-based experiments and research initiatives that are being piloted internally.
“We have been watching this space closely and the client and product use cases in the corporate and investment bank are starting to look really interesting,” said James Scott, Head of Digital, Corporate and Investment Bank for Barclays Africa.
Alongside R3, another consortium is the Linux Foundation’s Hyperledger Project, an open cross-industry ledger project introduced in December 2015 that aims at developing an enterprise grade, open source blockchain infrastructure to conduct business transactions and manage the flow of goods and related payments.