There is no denying that blockchain projects have taken off in the last couple of months with even mainstream institutions adopting the technology. On June 12, the Australian government also jumped on the blockchain bandwagon as it granted more than $5.6 million to industry-based grants programs.
Australian Ministry for Industry, Science and Technology Christian Porter said the projects would help to accelerate the country’s adoption of blockchain technology and “assist businesses to solve real-world problems”. The first two recipients of the Blockchain Pilot Grants were Everledger and Convergence. tech. While the former received $3 million, the former landed a grant of $2.6 million.
The funds for the blockchain grants were first included in the Federal Budget for the 2020-2021 session. Last year in February, the Australian Government released the National Blockchain Roadmap which set the course for the current developments. Christian Porter said:
“The Blockchain Pilot Grants will demonstrate the potential for blockchain to help businesses to save money and cut red tape by improving processes such as tracking products throughout the supply chain and transferring customer information.”
He continued:
“These two successful projects will also highlight opportunities to improve the technical and regulatory environment for blockchain in Australia, bolster blockchain literacy and support collaboration between Australian governments, the private sector, and blockchain companies.”
Other sources within the government agreed with Porter in the fact that Australia had to keep up with the changing financial climate. Using the funds, Everledger plans to investigate the use of blockchain in digital certification. On the other hand, Converge will use its grants capital to help automate ‘commodity-based tax’ processes.
Australia has been blockchain positive for quite some time now and the latest move by the government only solidified cryptocurrency’s hold in the continent down under.