Share this article
BlackBerry Unveils Blockchain Partnership to Support Medical Research
BlackBerry announced Thursday it was working with ONEBIO to support a new blockchain platform aimed at storing and sharing medical research data.
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 8:27 a.m. Published Oct 4, 2018, 8:30 p.m.
BlackBerry, the software company and former maker of an eponymous line of mobile phones, announced Thursday its plans for a new blockchain platform aimed at storing and sharing medical data.
The firm said in a press release that it would use its "carrier-grade network operation center" (NOC) to support the digital ledger, which would be developed by biotech incubator ONEBIO. It would specifically be used to securely store data from patients, labs and monitors.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
BlackBerry's NOC would be responsible for creating "an ultra-secure global ecosystem," the release claims, noting that data may be input by Internet-of-Things biometric devices as well as individuals.
The platform would also be able to anonymously share such data with researchers.
BlackBerry's first client will be the Global Commission to End the Diagnostic Odyssey for Children with a Rare Disease, an organization dedicated to helping children quickly find diagnoses for rare diseases.
The release continued:
"Co-chaired by Shire, the leading global biotech focused on rare diseases, one of the Global Commission's technology pilots will explore how BlackBerry's new solution might provide real-time, actionable analysis as the Commission seeks to use technology to shorten the time to diagnosis."
BlackBerry joins a number of other traditional smartphone developers in venturing into the crypto world.
Earlier this Nokia "wet its feet" by partnering with blockchain data platform Streamr and software company OSIsoft, in an effort to let users monetize their personal data.
The aim of the project is to allow users to "buy and sell" real-time data streams through ethereum smart contracts. They introduced a token for these transactions called the DATACoin
Another company, HTC, is going even further with its new Exodus smartphone. Set to be released by the end of the year, the Exodus is aimed at providing users the ability to store their private keys on their phone in place of separate hardware and software wallets.
BlackBerry logo image via Christopher Penler / Shutterstock
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Proposed ‘AfterDark’ Bitcoin ETF Would Skip U.S. Trading Hours
The fund would hold bitcoin only overnight, betting on data showing bitcon gains mostly occur outside regular market hours.
What to know:
- Nicholas Financial has filed with the SEC to launch a bitcoin ETF that holds BTC only during overnight hours.
- The “AfterDark” ETF buys bitcoin after U.S. stocks close for the day and then sells bitcoin and shifts into Treasuries during the American session.
- Data shows bitcoin tending to perform better when traditional U.S. markets are closed.
Top Stories
