R3 loses, B3i attracts: the rotation in blockchain consortiums

R3, a consortium repeatedly mentioned in the fintech news in connection with latest projects based on the blockchain technology, has lost two very valuable employees.

Tim Grant was the head of the company’s global business development and the second employee, Tim Swanson, was the director of market research. Now they intend to launch their own companies, although there are reports that their departure was friendly enough to continue communication and information exchange with former colleagues.

Grant plans to create something similar to R3, a firm that will provide services to businesses with the use of the R3-developed Corda platform, something both Grant and Swanson helped to develop. The latter will now consult fintech firms, as he was a market analyst before working in R3, and one can safely assume that work in R3 helped Swanson understand the market better.

Meanwhile, B3i, an insurance blockchain company, manages to attract two big insurance groups, AIA and AIG, and these companies seem to be eager to develop catastrophic insurance contracts based on the blockchain, as B3i is preparing to launch a series of tests of this technology. The co-founder of the consortium stressed that the company always welcomes new participants. Twenty-one other companies have also joined the consortium lately.