In a bid to promote blockchain adaptation, the European Union has launched the International Association of Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA).
The aim of the association is to bring together “industry, startups and SMEs, policy makers, international organizations, regulators, civil society and standard-setting bodies to support blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ) to be mainstreamed and scaled-up across multiple sectors.”
Announced on Wednesday, the launching ceremony at the European Commission in Brussels was attended by more than 100 members who signed the charter.
We had a great start for @INATBA_org today, with Director General @ViolaRoberto's welcoming remarks, Commissioner @GabrielMariya giving an inspiring key note, Gerard de Graaf and @PZilgalvis moderating panels and even @EvaKaili stopping by. THANK YOU @DSMeu !!! pic.twitter.com/Zt8FpBkuQt
— Nina Siedler (@ninsie3) April 3, 2019
Signed by Techs and Banks
The association onboarded members from both sides of the industry - established tech giants ad blockchain startups. A few notable members of the group include Accenture, IBM, and SWIFT. Major European banks like Barclays and BBVA also joined the group. Along with mainstream tech leaders and banks, an array blockchain startups were also onboarded, including bank-centric blockchain startup Ripple, R3, crypto mining company Bitfury, ConsenSys, and IOTA.
We're excited to be one of the founding members of #INATBA and Look forward to helping create the legal & regulatory framework required for applications like Digital Identity. Check out https://t.co/YZ94jUmaWq to learn more. pic.twitter.com/8Qf3dIw55a
— Yoti (@getyoti) April 2, 2019
The association will try to bridge the gap between public and private industries along with regulatory convergence, and legal predictability, ensuring “integrity and transparency.”
While speaking at the launching event, Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, emphasized on the blockchain development in the region and said: “In today’s economy, there is less and less time to build trust in the way it happened in the past. To fight cancer, to balance renewable energy, to trace the authenticity of goods, actors must be able to trust one another without meeting face-to-face. And how can we achieve this? Of course, with the help of blockchain.”
The idea of the formation of a blockchain association in Europe has been floating around for months. In January, the European Banking Authority (EBS) proposed to introduce appropriate legislation in the sector.
