Blockchain Center

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The Frankfurt School Blockchain Center is a think tank and research center which investigates implications of the blockchain technology, crypto assets and distributed ledger technology (DLT) for companies and their business models. Besides the development of prototypes, it serves as a platform for managers, startups, technology and industry experts to share knowledge and best practices. The Blockchain Center also provides new research impulses and develops trainings for students and executives. It focuses on banking, finance, mobility and, “Industrie 4.0”.

Online Panel Discussion “Navigating through Digital Asset Strategies for Companies” on May 18, 2021: The new wave of acceptance for digital assets has companies increasingly contemplating whether it is sensible to buy crypto assets, but navigating through the diversifying blockchain ecosystem poses some challenges. On the one hand, purchasing digital assets seems like a highly profitable investment, impacting a company’s bottom line positively and thereby freeing up money to pay shareholders, kick start projects, buy equipment, and clear debts. On the other hand, the volatility of digital assets cannot be sugar-coated, introducing uncertainty for financial managers. The question of whether to follow or not a digital assets strategy raises intricate considerations. The Frankfurt Blockchain Center organizes a panel discussion covering the rationale behind a digital assets strategy, its advantages, and disadvantages, as well as regulatory tax, the implication of purchasing, holding, and liquidating digital assets, and more. Invited panelists are Dr. Matthias Hirtschulz (d-fine), Frank Wagner (Invao), Stefan Günther (SettleMint), Thomas Pirzer (INTAS.tech), and Prof. Dr. Philipp Sandner (FSBC).
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Online Panel Discussion "DeFi 2.0: The New Generation of Institutionalized Decentralized Finance" on May 27, 2021: The concept of blockchain-based finance, also known as decentralized finance or DeFi, is a relatively young phenomenon. However, the DeFi market has grown significantly over the last couple of years. The ability to issue tokens, program smart contracts, and increase financial inclusion offers enormous potential for markets and their participants. On the contrary, intermediaries like banks and financial service providers might see their business case in danger. The Frankfurt School Blockchain Center organizes an online seminar to give an overview of DeFi and address recent developments in the ecosystem. Guest panelists are Peter Hofmann (Custodigit), Ajit Tripathi (Aave), Graham Nelson (Custodigit), and Prof. Dr. Philipp Sandner (FSBC).
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Become a blockchain expert

Blockchain will change the world and Germany is on its way to lead the digital change in this area. Education is always the first step towards the successful implementation of innovation. This is why the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center is offering a wide range of education to enable everyone from intern to CEO to understand and successfully apply blockchain.

Frankfurt School Blockchain Academy

• 32 hours of video education in 8 courses
• Technological, legal and business aspects of blockchain
• Part of the educational offering for companies
• Contact for more information

Blockchain Masterclass

• Comprehensive 12-hour blockchain course
• Deep blockchain knowledge paired with case studies for practical applications
• Learn more about the Blockchain Masterclass and sign up

Blockchain in a Nutshell

• High-level 2-hour introduction course
• Basic understanding of blockchain and trends
• Start your blockchain journey and sign up

Digital Assets Course (ifb)

Digitisation is disrupting the financial services industry in particular their business models. This course provides detailed knowledge on Distributed Ledger Technology, ranging from technical and regulatory aspects to their application.

• Total of 12 full days split across 4 blocks
• Classes are delivered face-to-face
•  The course is designed for personnel in leadership positions at financial institutions and will help you revise or revamp your business model
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Certified Blockchain Expert

• Two 4-day weeks compact blockchain course
• In-depth understanding of cryptocurrencies
• Full range of potential blockchain use cases, projects, and business models
• Inform yourself about the certificate program here

Research

• Joint research projects with corporates

• Studies on blockchain applications

• Compiling technical whitepapers

Community

• Well established network in the DLT/blockchain ecosystem in Germany, Europe and Asia

• Organization of conferences, meetups, seminars and online seminars

• Workshops for top managers and decision makers

Education

• Lectures about DLT and blockchain for bachelor, master and MBA courses

• Supervision of theses on various blockchain-related topics

• Certificate program to become a blockchain experts

• Digital Innovation and Fintech: dedicated bachelor program

Prototypes

• Development of prototypes in Ethereum, Hyperledger, R3 Corda, and IOTA

• Decision support with regard to (i) organizational and (ii) architectural IT decisions

• Support with implementation of blockchain solutions

Startups

• Advising startups on DLT/blockchain related topics

• Establishment of B2B or investor contacts for startups

• Support for marketing and public relations

EU Digital Innovation Hub: The Frankfurt School Blockchain Center is officially listed as a Digital Innovation Hub by the European Commission. EU Digital Innovation Hubs have been introduced to advise companies, especially SMEs, startups and mid-caps, about digitization and innovative technologies, and to provide opportunities to engage in technology-testing, financing advice, market intelligence, and networking activities.
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Multichain Asset Managers Association (MAMA): MAMA is is a trade body which represents asset management companies, investors, technology providers, service providers and ecosystem players interested in working towards a new vision for asset management using blockchain and other supporting decentralized technologies.
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International Token Standardization Association (ITSA): The ITSA is a non-profit organization aiming at the development and implementation of market standards for the identification, classification, and analysis of DLT- and blockchain-based cryptographic tokens, including the International Token Identification Number (ITIN), the International Token Classification (ITC) framework and the International Token Database (TOKENBASE).
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Blockchain Bundesverband (Bundesblock): The Blockchain Bundesverband (Blockchain Association Germany) promotes the use of blockchain technology at the business location Germany. The association represents the interests of startups and companies that want to develop business models based on blockchain technology.
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European Union Blockchain Observatory: The European Union Blockchain Observatory and Forum is a two-year initiative created by the European Commission in February 2018, aiming to support blockchain innovation and the development of the blockchain ecosystem within the EU.
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Austrian Blockchain Center (ABC): The ABC mission is to establish itself as the one-stop-shop Austrian Research Center for Blockchain and related technologies focusing on the industrial application in areas such as industry 4.0 and IoT as well as financial, energy, logistics, government, and administrative applications.

International Association for Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA): The INATBA provides users and developers of DLT a worldwide forum to exchange views and opinions with regulators and policymakers.
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Crypto Country Association Liechtenstein (CCA): The CCA is supporting the blockchain and cryptocurrency sectors in Liechtenstein. The goal is to organize the application and dissemination of blockchain-related matters as well as establishing quality assurance.
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Trust Square: The co-working space Trust Square is offering a network of experts in the field of blockchain technology, bringing together entrepreneurs, businesses, investors as well as academics and researchers in an open and diverse environment.
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DLT Education Consortium (DEC): The DEC is a non-profit consortium for academic and professional organizations for international knowledge exchange, education programs, professional certificates and industry research on distributed ledger technologies.

Convergence Alliance: The Convergence Alliance is a group of leading enterprise partners, venture capitalists, technologists, start-ups and academic institutions driving the innovation around Web 3.0 through working groups, research, hackathons, and an annual dev con.
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Bloxberg: The Bloxberg consortium is a decentralized research infrastructure governed by various research institutes and scientists that provide services for science.
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Blockchain for Europe: This association represents international blockchain industry players at the EU-level. Blockchain for Europe pro-actively contributes to the regulatory debate by supporting European decision makers in their goal to make the implementation of Blockchain technology a success. Blockchain for Europe closely collaborates with national, regional and global players – both at policy as well as industry level – to support the promotion of and education about blockchain technology.
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Recent articles

Article: Education in Blockchain and DLT: How to Acquire the Necessary Knowledge with a Workload of 10 Working Days

Article: Liechtenstein Blockchain Act: How can nearly any right and therefore any asset be tokenized based on the Token Container Model?

Article: Germany on Chain: National Blockchain Strategy Released — Bitcoin Yes, Libra No

Article: Priorities for Europe and Germany: Both, the Euro and identities should run on the blockchain

Article: Germany Harshly Regulates Crypto Assets as of January 1, 2020: What are the Best Strategies for Blockchain Startups, FinTechs, Banks, Exchanges and Industrial Companies?

Article: Facebook-coin Libra: benefits vs. risks — opinions from German economists

Selected publications

Comparison of Ethereum, Hyperledger Fabric and Corda: With this paper, we provide a brief analysis of the most notable differences between the distributed ledger technologies (DLT) Hyperledger Fabric, R3 Corda and Ethereum. Our intention is to give decision makers new to DLT guidance for what use cases Hyperledger Fabric, Corda and Ethereum are most suitable. Read more.

Blockchain in Healthcare: This paper provides a brief overview of whether blockchain could be a promising technology for creating a healthcare ecosystem. By using blockchain-encrypted digital identity management, humans are placed in the center of medical data management. The central issues of the current system are the availability of medical data and trust of patients and stakeholders in data security and quality, which can be addressed by using blockchain technology. Read more.

Application of Blockchain Technology in the Manufacturing Industry: The following paper shows both the high potential of blockchain for the manufacturing and machine tool industry in the future, as well as the challenges that occur with that technology. Several use cases of blockchain technology will be presented and discussed in this paper. Furthermore, we want to show the conditions under which blockchain solutions might be most beneficial and if blockchain will become a key technology to transform many industries. Read more.

Solving Challenges in Developing Countries with Blockchain Technology: Blockchain technology can solve development problems as it improves existing instruments and enables the development of new ones. Blockchain-based applications particularly address institutional weaknesses and financial inclusion because they restrict deception, corruption and uncertainties. In the future, the blockchain can also be a development vehicle empowering people directly and mitigating power asymmetries. Read more.

Blockchain Technology in the Pharmaceutical Industry: With this paper, we present a blockchain-based solution to increase supply chain security for the pharmaceutical industry. Supply chain security is one aspect that has recently won attention, when the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) has been implemented in the U.S. to, amongst others, fight the counterfeit drug problem. During the second “{Life Science} meets IT” hackathon in Heidelberg a team of enthusiastic young professionals and students developed a prototype solution that is able to guard people’s life with a patient-empowering blockchain solution and won the first price with their prototype LifeCrypter. Read more.

Identifying Leading Blockchain Startups on a Worldwide Level:The blockchain startup ecosystem is unique for the interconnectedness amongst startups from different industries. Startups are in many cases the drivers of innovations. A comprehensive understanding and overview of a particular startup ecosystem can therefore be beneficial to understand which products or services are really demanded by customers. Read more.

Selected past projects

• Development of e-mobility prototype based on the blockchain technology with INVERS
• Proof of concept (PoC) on trading loans using Ethereum
• Blockchain workshop with the Advisory Board of the Deutsche Bank
• Blockchain workshop with the Board of LBBW
• Joint workshop with Deutsche Bundesbank (6th Central Banking Workshop on “Blockchain Technology: Opportunities and Challenges”)

Conferences and seminars

• Crypto Asset Conference in Frankfurt (CAC 2019)
• German Blockchain Week (GWB 2019)
• East West Crypto Conference (EWCC19)
• Crypto Startup School (CSS 2018)
• Course "Certified Blockchain Expert" (more information)
• IoT & Finance workshop in cooperation with Bosch
• 3. Forum: Blockchain im Finanzbereich

Management

Frankfurt School Experts

External Experts