HSBC the UK bank is backing a US startup in the blockchain field called Axoni Cryptovest reported The firm plans to put the funds to use by growing its AxCore system which is based on distributed ledger technology DLT as well its smart contracting language called AxLang It also plans to enhance its technology for data synchronization With the latest investment the companys fresh money has risen to 36 million HSBC Global Banking and Markets Americas COO Matthew J Flanigan said in a press release distributed ledger technology will clearly be important in modernizing the shared infrastructure of capital markets Axoni has demonstrated that they are the leader in this space and HSBC is delighted to work with them on increasing efficiency and lowering costs for the industry And McAfee researchers have come across WebCobra a new nefarious crypto malware that steals computing power to mine digital currency TheNextWeb reported To put the software on different computers the hackers are using a Microsoft installer package that puts different miners on x64 and x86 systems respectively The report claims that the US Brazil and South Africa have seen the worst impacts of the software and that the malware originated from Russia In other news a consortium called VAKT Global is seeking to create a blockchain platform for the energy industry Coindesk reported The idea is to have smart contracts supplant paper documents which could cut down on errors and costs while increasing the efficiency of processes after trades VAKT Global Vice President of Product Development Lyon Hardgrave said according to reports we expect to go live at the end of November in the North Sea oil market In 2019 we will look at ARA barges waterborne markets and US crude pipelines And a commercial bank and federal agency in Australia have concluded an experiment with a smart money blockchain app Coindesk reported The idea behind the app for programmable money was to help enhance budgeting and insurance payouts and involved National Disability Insurance Scheme NDIS members Commonwealth Bank of Australia CommBank ran the trial along with the Data 61 division of The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organizations CSIRO CommBanks head of government and ADIs Julie Hunter said in a press release The results also show potential to reduce administration costs for disability service providers and the risk of fraud and accidental misspending The trial has also highlighted that the technology could have wide application across the government business and not-for-profit sectors LATEST INSIGHTS Our data and analytics team has developed a number of creative methodologies and frameworks that measure and benchmark the innovation thats reshaping the payments and commerce ecosystem Check out our latest Digital Fraud Report