Ethereum-based credit rating and KYC platform Cetas picks up Citi innovation prize

Decentralised platform-builder Algorythmix has picked up first prize for the most transformative use of blockchain in the Citi Mobile Challenge for Cetas, its decentralised KYC and credit-rating framework using Ethereum.

The company released a statement that read: "Cetas is a decentralised platform which enables sharing of the KYC data using blockchain. The platform has an added a layer of decentralised credit rating function and advanced functionalities to address the problem of scale.

It said that the idea came into existence over a coffee-table discussion, which made its way to the Bengaluru demo day of Citi Mobile Challenge and eventually stood out among 1,900 ideas from people in 386 cities.

Jorge Ruiz, global head of digital acceleration at Citi, said: "Citi Mobile Challenge Asia Pacific was by far our biggest and most competitive programme yet. The solutions we saw at Demo Days in Bengaluru, Singapore, Sydney and Hong Kong were outstanding, and the top innovations from this challenge are of the highest quality. Congratulations to our award recipients, and we look forward to collaborating with you!"

Algorythmix added: "The entire Algorythmix team is humbled and elated to be named a top innovation – for us, making a transformation is what matters the most. We thank Citi for such a wonderful framework for innovation."