Austria Government looks to Ethereum to authenticate $1.3 billion bond auction: Ethereum drops 2% on Friday

• “Blockchain technology offers great potential for increasing efficiency and ensuring the quality of bank processes,” Oesterreichische Kontrollbank.
• The government of Austria views the blockchain technology as an upcoming “economic policy focus.”

The government of Austria has decided to go the blockchain way in notarizing the auction of at least $1.3 billion in a public bond. According to the announced released on September 25, the Federal Government’s Finance Agency (OeBFA) has tasked the banking guru Oesterreichische Kontrollbank (OeKB) with the exercise which will be conducted on October 2.

The bank will be conducting authentication services while the data that includes the tractions will be kept on the blockchain. The IT resources belonging to the bank will be employed in the entire exercise. Significantly, Ethereum blockchain has been chosen as the primary data storage platform.

A member of the management board of OeKB, Angelika Sommer-Hemetsberger in regards to the announcement said:

“Blockchain technology offers great potential for increasing efficiency and ensuring the quality of bank processes. Therefore, we have been dealing with this topic intensively for some time now and have already tested several prototypes. Starting the real operation on behalf of OeBFA is a pleasing and logical next step.”

The government of Austria views the blockchain technology as an upcoming “economic policy focus.” The head of the OeBFA, Markus Stix said in a comment:

“This added security contributes to a high level of confidence in the auction process of Austrian government bonds and strengthens Austria’s good standing in the market, which can also indirectly contribute to favorable financing costs.”

The entrance of Austria’s government into the blockchain arena is a big step for institutional adoption of the technology and cryptocurrencies at large. This support comes after the World Bank Group reported that it was able to collect at least $81 million in the course of its landmark bond issuance that employed a private blockchain that was developed by the Commonwealth Bank of Austria.

Ethereum price technical picture

Ethereum is currently correcting lower, although it had made a nice headway above $220. The price stepped above $230 but stalled short of $235 leading to the ongoing gain trimming activity. The price has rejected $230 and is now heading towards $220 while trading at $222. Both the 50SMA and the 100SMA are offering support at $220. The trend has turned negative on Friday as the stochastic digs deep into the oversold levels.

ETH/USD 1-hour chart