Blockchain
UnionBank Joins Hands with Huawei to Build an Intelligent DataCenter Network
The Union Bank of the Philippines, more commonly known as UnionBank, is recognized as one of Asia’s leading financial institutions, ranking among the country’s top universal banks in terms of profitability and efficiency. As a high-flyer, UnionBank has earned ample awards and recognition over the years; it has taken home the Asset Triple A’s Digital Bank of the Year 4 times, and won the Digital Trailblazer award in the Asia/Pacific region by IDC. It was also voted as the Most Recommended Retail Bank in Asia Pacific by BankQuality.com.
UnionBank has always spearheaded technological innovations to empower its customers. It is fully committed to being the Philippines’ leading bank of innovation to best serve the growing needs of Filipinos everywhere. It stands firm in its promise to power the future of banking by co-creating innovations for its customers and for a better world!
UnionBank is diving deeper into digital transformation, spanning network infrastructure, organizational structure, and operational mode. Data is exploding in the digital era, and it is the data center (DC) that processes and stores so much data, especially an enterprise’s core data and production systems; it is also the starting point of business innovation. UnionBank is among the first to embrace digital transformation by building a next-generation DC architecture and promoting data center network (DCN) transformation. The resulting benefits include more agile and reliable networks, higher-quality services, and more energetic business innovation.
Originally, UnionBank operated an active/standby disaster recovery (DR) DC architecture that was built on legacy devices. This legacy network architecture, however, became less practical as the bank’s services developed. There were challenges in rapid and elastic scaling, agile deployment, or E2E automation, and meeting agile service innovation requirements. To overcome these challenges, the bank needed to build a next-generation smart DCN as soon as possible.
After careful consideration and comparison, UnionBank finally decided to join hands with Huawei to build a smart DCN. The bank came to its decision based on Huawei’s unrivaled strengths, including future-oriented DCN architecture, smooth network migration and evolution, a simplified and intelligent DCN O&M system, and customer pain point-targeted real-time service support.
1. Future-Oriented DCN Architecture, Facilitating Efficient Migration and Smooth Evolution
Huawei’s CloudFabric Autonomous Driving Network Solution for DCs helped UnionBank build a future-proof, world-leading DCN, in which active and standby DCs are built on a VXLAN-based software defined networking (SDN) spine-leaf architecture, N resource pools are built based on the resource attribute categories, and iMaster NCE-Fabric is deployed to implement automated network deployment and elastic scaling. iMaster NCE-Fabric is also used to manage firewalls and load balancers from multiple vendors, enabling pool-based value-added services such as security and load balancing.
When it came to migrating and upgrading UnionBank’s production network, the time window for such operations needed to be strictly limited to guarantee bank service continuity and minimize migration impacts on the services. This was a big challenge. To overcome this, Huawei carefully designed a smooth, convenient migration solution, which could be implemented in four simple steps.
The first step is to build a new SDN network. iMaster NCE-Fabric discovers and maps the legacy network configurations to ensure high configuration consistency between the new and legacy networks. The second is to migrate Layer 2 services. iMaster NCE-Fabric streamlines Layer 2 configurations of the legacy and new networks and automatically migrates servers (physical and virtual machines). The third is to migrate Layer 3 services. iMaster NCE-Fabric streamlines Layer 3 configurations of the legacy and new networks and migrates Layer 3 gateways to the new network. This is how service migration is completed. The very last, simple step is to verify service continuity. Namely, iMaster NCE-Fabric verifies network connectivity, service paths, and change impacts to ensure that all the service systems are working properly.
After dozens of network migrations in early mornings, Huawei successfully migrated the bank’s legacy architecture to a future-proof DCN architecture without triggering any configuration rollback or network accidents.
2. E2E, High-Level Automation, Facilitating Network Simulation and Change Evaluation
As agile service innovation gains momentum, the UnionBank’s DC needs to be able to rapidly respond to service needs. This can hardly be achieved on such a busy network, on which numerous new services and a large number of changes are made per year, over 3000 on average. To handle this, network engineers must spend more than half of their time in adapting the network to new services and changes. Typically, the routine approach to making a network change is to design a change solution based on expert experience, evaluate change impacts, implement the solution, and manually check the change result. This, however, cannot prevent change errors as networks keep scaling out and become increasingly complex.
iMaster NCE-Fabric can handle all of this. Through modeling and simulation, it can automatically evaluate change risks and impacts, execute changes, and perform post-change verification, ensuring error-free network changes that can perfectly meet customer expectations. Not only this, customers can also create continuous monitoring tasks on iMaster NCE-Fabric, so that their services can run under constant guarantee.
3. AI-Powered “1-3-5” Intelligent O&M, Redefining How to Operate and Maintain DCNs
To improve customer experience and efficiency, UnionBank launched the on-line registration service, enabling customers to enjoy high-quality financial services from the comfort of their own home. As the service became more popular, many customers encountered frequent service access failures or frame freezing, leading to numerous complaints. In response, the bank began to locate the fault on its DCN; however, it was exceedingly difficult to detect network delay jitter and packet loss in the traditional O&M mode that favored manual operations and heavily depended on expert experience. Fault locating was also time-consuming and labor-intensive in this mode because engineers needed to obtain packets node by node for locating. All of this fed into a less-than-ideal customer experience.
This is where Huawei’s iMaster NCE-FabricInsight comes in. It innovatively applies AI into DCN O&M, helping UnionBank implement intelligent DCN O&M in all scenarios. To elaborate, it enables telemetry-based all-scenario KPI subscription in seconds, establishing a five-dimensional, real-time network health evaluation system. The dimensions are device, network, protocol, overlay, and service. In addition, leveraging Huawei’s over 30 years of O&M experience and tens of millions of data samples, iMaster NCE-FabricInsight can identify correlations between network objects and conclude fault spreading rules based on big data mining and modeling, thereby accurately detecting 75 types of typical faults in 1 minute, locating them in 3 minutes, and rectifying them in 5 minutes. Not only this, iMaster NCE-FabricInsight achieves a future-oriented shift from passive O&M to proactive O&M, freeing network engineers from the traditional labor-intensive, passive DCN O&M. This has empowered UnionBank to maximize its DCN O&M efficiency.
The smart DCN is just the beginning. UnionBank continues to push the envelope in its digital transformation journey by holding a groundbreaking virtual ceremony for its Innovation Campus — a real-estate development supportive of the institution’s innovation initiatives. This campus is also seen to be the hub for blockchain, AI, and other new technologies that will revolutionize people’s way of life. Huawei looks forward to cooperating with UnionBank in further fields and helping UnionBank delve deeper into digital transformation.
SOURCE Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
Blockchain
Blocks & Headlines: Today in Blockchain – May 19, 2025 | DoubleZero, Toobit, Story Protocol, Marco Polo, Argo Blockchain
May 19, 2025 — As the blockchain industry surges into its next phase of maturity, today’s briefing spotlights five pivotal developments shaping the crypto ecosystem: the physical limits of the public internet, a major exchange’s European push, Hollywood’s bet on Web3, blockchain’s role in global trade finance, and the drive for sustainable mining. Together, these stories reflect an industry wrestling with infrastructure bottlenecks, forging new community models, and renewing its environmental and regulatory commitments. From fiber-optics rails to Hollywood IP tokenization, let’s unpack what matters today—and why it matters to you.
1. Breaking the Bandwidth Barrier: DoubleZero’s Quest for High-Speed Blockchain Rails
The Story: At Consensus 2025 in Toronto, DoubleZero co-founder and CEO Austin Federa warned that today’s public internet “was never built for high-performance systems,” creating a critical bottleneck for high-throughput blockchain networks. Unlike traditional client–server models, modern blockchains require validators to rapidly switch between heavy data consumption and mass broadcast, demanding both low latency and massive bandwidth. By building dedicated fiber-optic communication rails, DoubleZero aims to slash transaction latency, tighten DeFi spreads, and unlock new use cases once stymied by internet constraints. Founded in late 2024, the project raised $28 million and plans its public mainnet launch in H2 2025, following an April token sale open to validators from Solana, Celestia, Sui, Aptos, and Avalanche.
Analysis & Implications: Federa’s remarks signal a shift: the limiting factor for blockchain performance has moved off software and compute and onto physical infrastructure. As decentralized networks scale, the quality of global connectivity becomes paramount. For DeFi traders, faster rails could mean tighter arbitrage windows and lower slippage; for enterprise adopters, sub-second confirmations could finally rival traditional payment rails. Yet building and maintaining dedicated networks carries capital and regulatory burdens. Will blockchain projects partner with telecom giants or build private consortia? How will this influence the ongoing L2 vs. L1 scalability debate? As the blockchain space broadens into enterprise domains, physical network investments may become as strategic as protocol design.
Source: Cointelegraph
2. Toobit’s European Expansion: Platinum Sponsorship at Dutch Blockchain Week
The Story: On May 19, Toobit announced its role as Platinum Sponsor of Dutch Blockchain Week 2025 (May 19–25) and revealed plans to host a booth at the Dutch Blockchain Summit in Amsterdam on May 21–22. Coming off its Platinum role at Web3 Amsterdam earlier this year, the award-winning derivatives exchange seeks to deepen ties with Europe’s crypto community—showcasing trading solutions, exploring partnerships, and engaging physically with its user base.
Analysis & Implications: Sponsorship of marquee events like Dutch Blockchain Week underscores exchanges’ pivot toward community engagement and regional regulatory alignment. As the EU advances its Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework, European crypto players face both opportunity and uncertainty. Toobit’s visible presence signals confidence in the continent’s evolving legal landscape—and the strategic importance of in-person dialogue. Beyond brand building, these events catalyze partnerships with custodians, DeFi projects, and institutional investors. For traders, this focus on local engagement could translate into tailored products—European stablecoins, localized fiat on-ramps, or region-specific compliance tools. Toobit is betting that boots on the ground matter as much as bits on the chain.
Source: GlobeNewswire
3. Hollywood Meets Web3: David Goyer’s “Emergence” Universe on Story Protocol
The Story: At Consensus’s Toronto conference, filmmaker David Goyer (Blade trilogy, The Dark Knight, Apple TV’s Foundation) unveiled Emergence, a sprawling sci-fi franchise built on his blockchain platform Incention and powered by Story Protocol. Leveraging a 2,500-page story bible and an AI “Atlas” agent, Goyer plans community-driven storytelling—fans co-create characters, up-vote submissions, and share licensing upside via on-chain smart contracts. Story Protocol, which has raised over $80 million from a16z, Hashed, and Endeavor, offers IP registration, royalty-sharing, and permissioned remixing, aiming to decentralize franchise building.
Analysis & Implications: Goyer’s venture epitomizes the emerging creator economy in Web3, where tokenized IP and community governance challenge Hollywood’s top-down model. By placing narrative rights and royalties on-chain, creators and fans potentially share in franchise upside—aligning incentives but also demanding robust smart-contract frameworks. Yet risks abound: quality control, legal enforceability of on-chain IP, and community moderation. Will traditional studios adapt or resist? And can emergent on-chain governance scale for billion-dollar franchises? As AI and blockchain converge, the entertainment industry faces disruptive opportunities—and headwinds—around ownership, monetization, and creative collaboration.
Source: CoinDesk
4. Beyond Letters of Credit: Blockchain’s Transformative Role in Digital Trade Finance
The Story: In a comprehensive overview, Global Trade Magazine highlights blockchain’s potential to overhaul international commerce by digitizing trade finance workflows. Traditional paper-based processes—letters of credit, bills of lading—are slow, error-prone, and fraud-susceptible. Blockchain introduces immutable, shared ledgers and smart contracts that automate payment releases (e.g., upon IoT-verified delivery), collapse settlement times from weeks to hours, and enhance KYC/AML compliance via permissioned networks. Platforms such as R3’s Marco Polo, the we.trade consortium, and IBM/Maersk’s TradeLens demonstrate real-world deployments. Looking ahead, AI, machine learning, and IoT integration will further streamline risk scoring and anomaly detection—but challenges around protocol interoperability, regulatory standardization, and legal enforceability remain.
Analysis & Implications: As global trade rebounds post-pandemic, inefficiencies in trade finance cost banks and businesses billions annually. Blockchain’s promise lies in single-source-of-truth data sharing—cutting reconciliation costs and unlocking capital. For DeFi projects eyeing institutional corridors, tokenized trade-finance instruments could represent multi-trillion-dollar on-chain markets. Yet widespread adoption hinges on multi-stakeholder collaboration—banks, customs agencies, insurers, and carriers—and on harmonized regulations. The next frontier: bridging public and private blockchains, ensuring data privacy while enabling transparency. For blockchain advocates, trade finance offers both a showcase and a stern test of real-world scalability.
Source: Global Trade Magazine
5. Argo Blockchain’s Green Mining Playbook for 2025
The Story: UK-based miner Argo Blockchain (LSE: ARB, NASDAQ: ARBK) continues to expand sustainable crypto-mining operations in 2025. Leveraging hydroelectric power in Quebec and deregulated energy in Texas, Argo mined 1,298 BTC in 2024 at 2.8 EH/s capacity. In March, it announced a $25 million credit facility to upgrade its Texas data center with next-gen ASICs—targeting a 20% hash-rate boost by Q3 2025. With 95% of Quebec power from renewables, Argo aims for 3.5 EH/s by 2026. Competitors Marathon Digital (29.8 EH/s) and Riot Platforms (22.5 EH/s) focus on vertical integration and energy arbitrage, but remain more reliant on fossil fuels. Facing Bitcoin’s price swings, halving pressure, and potential regulatory curbs, Argo’s public listing and green credentials position it to attract ESG-conscious investors.
Analysis & Implications: Crypto mining’s environmental impact remains a flashpoint. Argo’s renewable-first strategy offers a template for sustainable operations, but scaling green hashing sustainably—and profitably—poses capital and regulatory challenges. As governments scrutinize energy usage, mining hubs may shift toward regions with abundant renewables. The storage of zero-carbon electricity via mining rigs could even emerge as a grid-stabilization service. Yet profitability remains tightly coupled to Bitcoin’s price and block rewards. For institutional backers and ESG funds, companies like Argo may represent the safest crypto-mining bet. However, industry consolidation and hardware innovation cycles will determine who thrives in this high-stakes infrastructure race.
Source: Blockchain Magazine
Conclusion: Key Takeaways
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Infrastructure Matters: With dedicated fiber-optics rails, projects like DoubleZero spotlight that blockchain scaling is as much about hardware as code.
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Regional Engagement: Toobit’s European sponsorship underscores the ongoing importance of in-person community building amid evolving regulatory regimes.
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Creator-Economy Revolution: David Goyer’s Emergence franchise illustrates Web3’s potential—and complexities—in democratizing IP creation and monetization.
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Institutional Use Cases: Trade finance remains a prime arena for blockchain’s real-world impact, but adoption depends on interoperability and regulation.
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Sustainability Imperative: Mining firms like Argo must balance growth, profitability, and environmental stewardship to appeal to both crypto purists and ESG investors.
As the blockchain and cryptocurrency landscape advances, these stories offer a snapshot of an ecosystem grappling with scale, regulation, community, and sustainability. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s briefing—where we’ll continue to track the innovations and challenges defining Web3’s evolution.
The post Blocks & Headlines: Today in Blockchain – May 19, 2025 | DoubleZero, Toobit, Story Protocol, Marco Polo, Argo Blockchain appeared first on News, Events, Advertising Options.
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