Orange is investing in Chain alongside several other companies, including NASDAQ, Visa, Citi, Capital One and Fiserv. In total, the consortium is investing 30 million dollars in Chain.

Chain's newest partners will also join the company in forming a blockchain Working Group to explore the application of the technology in their markets and take a collaborative approach to building new solutions.

Orange, thanks to its office in Silicon Valley, has already been supporting and working on Blockchain ecosystems with start-ups, including Chain, as well as large corporations through Orange's Chainforce initiative (http://www.chainforce.org/) .

A blockchain is a new model for transferring digital assets that substitutes third-party intermediaries with cryptographically decentralized secured networks. A blockchain enables asset holders in a market to transact instantly and securely. This technology can facilitate the issuance and transfer of asset types as varied as financial securities, gift cards, mobile minutes, loyalty points and energy credits. Transactions are recorded automatically on the network's shared ledger, providing increased transparency to asset issuers, owners and regulators. In addition, the use of cryptographic signatures reduces risk and prevents fraud, making blockchain-based transfer a credible alternative to centralized systems available today.

Chain partners closely with leading institutions to design, deploy and operate blockchain networks that are purpose-built for particular markets and assets. These private networks, which do not use bitcoin currency but are based on the same open protocol, are interoperable with one another and with other open blockchain standards.

Pierre Louette, Orange's Deputy CEO who is also responsible for Orange Digital Ventures said: 'We believe in the disruptive potential of the blockchain and becoming a key partner and investor in Chain will help us to learn faster and launch trials around this technology. We are seeking to carve out multiple use cases in our range of businesses to improve our services and propose new ones to our customers'

Adam Ludwin Chain CEO said: 'We are thrilled to partner with Orange to explore the uses of blockchain networks in the telecom market. We believe these new networks will simplify data transfer between carriers and enable new services that will improve end user experiences.'

Chain Inc. partners with leading financial institutions to build and deploy blockchain networks that enable seamless, programmatic and peer-to-peer transfer of digital assets. The platform, which is based on the open and interoperable bitcoin protocol, enables institutions to create, issue, store and transfer digital assets on private networks purpose-built for a given market. The company, which is one-half strategic partner and one-half technology platform, offers a range of solutions, from a development sandbox for rapid prototyping to secure network nodes for production systems. Chain is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. For more information please visit www.chain.com. For press and general inquiries, please email hello@chain.com.

Orange Digital Ventures identifies and funds early-stage start-ups during their initial development. With 20 million Euros earmarked for its first year, Orange Digital Ventures proceeds by making investments via minority holdings. The focus of is on financing those start-ups working on the new and next transformations of the telecoms and digital sectors, through innovation, disruptive technologies or new business models. Orange Digital Ventures will support in particular start-ups in the fields of new Connectivities, Enterprise Cloud and data, the Internet of Things, and Fintech, from any geographical area.

www.digitalventures.orange.com

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