Japanese Banking Giant Exec Says Blockchain Is Making ‘a B2B Shift’

A senior executive at one of Japan’s biggest banking groups, the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), has talked up the role of blockchain technology in the world of finance – and claims that businesses are now shifting away from business-to-consumer (B2C) offerings in favor of business-to-business (B2B) alternatives.

SMBC, which has assets worth over USD 2tn, per last year’s financial report, is the only Japanese bank to join the Marco Polo Network blockchain initiative, a trade financing platform that also comprises the likes of the Bank of America, BNP Paribas, Commerzbank and ING.

Japanese media outlet SBB+IT quoted SMBC’s Deputy President and Head of Global Business Masahiko Oshima as stating that while cryptoasset-related activities constituted B2C business, “in recent years, blockchain has steadily expanded into the field of B2B transactions.”

The executive was speaking at a blockchain event co-organized by the regulatory Financial Services Agency and the Nikkei media group.