Blockchain-as-a-service approved for use across UK government

"Credits is pleased to have been awarded a place on the G-Cloud 8 platform. We are excited by the huge potential of Distributed Ledger Technology for many different government and public sector applications, and are looking forward to working with UK public sector organisations to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their services for UK taxpayers," said Nick Williamson, CEO and founder of Credits.

While digital currencies such as Bitcoin have grown in part because they are to an extent beyond government control, the public sector has been looking with increasing interest at the underlying technologies.

Indeed, this year's Distributed Ledger Technology: Beyond block chain report from the UK government's chief scientific adviser Sir Mark Walport highlighted how DLT could aid in several areas of governance including protecting critical infrastructure, registering assets including NHS data, and reducing benefit fraud.

"Distributed ledger technology has the potential to redefine the relationship between government and citizens in terms of data-sharing, transparency and trust," he wrote. The Department for Work and Pensions recently begun a trial using blockchain to track how benefit claimants are spending their money.