Bitcoin points way to 'massive change' for commodity businesses

Blockchain ledgers can cut trading costs, minimise fraud risk

Blockchain is upending the world's financial markets with the rise of bitcoin, and now the digital-ledger system is poised to do the same next year for raw materials like food and energy.

Companies including BP, ABN Amro Group NV and Mercuria Energy Group said last month they will adapt blockchain to streamline physical energy transactions. In October, four banks joined a venture started by UBS Group AG and International Business Machines to use the technology in a platform for the global goods trade. Natixis SA and Trafigura Group announced in March they will employ the system to finance buying and selling