IBM open sources blockchain code for Hyperledger Project

IBM has made some 44,000 lines of code available under an open source licence to the Linux Foundation's Hyperledger Project, as part of an effort to make blockchain technology available to enterprise developers.

IBM is a founding member of the Hyperledger Project, formerly known as the Open Ledger Project, set up last year.

Australia's Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and NAB are also involved in the project, and are trialling blockchain, a technology derived from the digital crypto-currency Bitcoin.

The code was developed by 35 IBM researchers and programmers around the world, with the input of over 100 technical architects, the company said.

IBM hopes to develop a pluggable architecture to allow developers use software modules for their blockchain needs.

It has also developed a new consensus algorithm to verify the accuracy of ledger entries for specific blockchain use cases, and smart contracts that can be written in Golang and Java and run in containers, with fine-grained controls over who can view and execute them.

New cloud-based services on IBM's hybrid Bluemix cloud platform include integrated devops tools for creating, deploying and running blockchain applications as well.

Internet of things-connected devices will also be able to communicate with blockchain ledgers through barcode and radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags and scans, to update and validate smart contracts for consignment tracking.

The company also announced that the Japan Exchange Group would evaluate IBM's Hyperledger Project blockchain code to see if it can be used for trading and settlement in low liquidity markets.

IBM is also working with the London Stock Exchange to implement blockchain ledgers.