Intel Joins Blockchain Technology Race

Intel has joined IBM in the blockchain technology race.

While IBM may be looking into using the blockchain to create its own digital currency payment system, chipmaker Intel is reportedly looking to build a special team around the blockchain to see where it could harness the power behind bitcoin’s technology. Intel is advertising for a cryptographic researcher position to work on the ledger side of the tech.

The blockchain is the distribution ledger that records a bitcoin transaction over the exchange network, which runs the bitcoin software. The blockchain allows for money to be transferred using the blockchain technology, which cuts out the middle man (like a bank) when getting the funds transferred — cutting down on the time and money it costs to send that money from one network to another.

According to Intel’s job post, here is what Intel has to say about monetizing the bitcoin technology: “Digital currencies like Bitcoin have captured the imagination of the press. Related startups are generating a great deal of VC interest and investment because of the potential significance of any disruption of the financial payment industry.”

The job would be with Intel Labs’ Special Innovation Projects group and would involve investigating “hardware and software capabilities that advance the performance, robustness, and scalability of open, decentralized ledgers.” The post even goes on to explain how the blockchain tech works, including the benefits of using it on digital marketplaces.

“Its fundamental technical innovation is the decentralized transaction ledger called the ‘block-chain.’ It allows bitcoin to prevent double-spending of currency by recording all transactions in an open ledger without the need for a central authority. Such a distributed, public, secure, peer-to-peer transaction record enables not just the exchange of bitcoins but many secondary uses that the research and startup community are exploring such as digital marketplaces.”