Newly Founded Ethereum Alliance Adds 86 Companies as Members

The Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, founded in February, has announced that 86 new companies have joined the organization, including Samsung SDS, Rabobank and Toyota. The aim of the alliance is to research blockchain applications.

For example, the alliance must ensure that ethereum can serve as a technology for business applications. For example, the organization’s original members, including IBM, Microsoft and ING, are exploring how using the ethereum blockchain can speed up financial transactions and lead to cost savings, Bloomberg reported. The organization wants to create standards and share knowledge through collaboration. Spain’s Banco Santander, also a member of the alliance, previously tested the use of the ethereum blockchain for transactions.

The difference with the bitcoin blockchain is that the ethereum blockchain makes it possible to create so-called smart contracts using a scripting language. People can write programs and that script can be sent to the blockchain via a transaction. When the transaction is confirmed by the network, an address is generated. That address is a kind of account, or a ‘contract’. To interact with the contract, someone can send a transaction to the contract, after which an action is performed.

In this way, various applications are possible, such as opening a savings account, drawing up a will and issuing shares. Semi-financial applications are also considered possible, such as rewarding someone who performs difficult calculation tasks on his systems. Bitcoin and Ethereum have seen significant appreciation in recent times. For example, the value of bitcoin this weekend exceeded $2,000 for the first time and is currently at $2,174 at the time of writing.