On January 4, computer chip manufacturer AMD and blockchain software developer ConsenSys announced that they are collaborating on creating blockchain solutions in cooperation with Halo Holdings, which is an investment management company in Abu Dhabi. The companies are establishing what they call W3BCLOUD, which will offer optimized cloud-based blockchain solutions for both commercial and government entities. These solutions will utilize AMD hardware and ConsenSys will be responsible for creating the technology to handle transactions and security. The Brooklyn-based company will also create use cases for the technology. ConsenSys believes that W3BCLOUD will be the very first platform to provide cloud-based blockchain solutions that can fulfill the requirements of both private- and public-sector applications. Joerg Roskowetz, who is the Director of Product Management and Blockchain Technology at AMD, says that W3BCLOUD will be specifically designed to "tackle challenges ranging from smart identity, enterprise data centers and health ID tracking, to licensing and supply chain management." This is not the first time ConsenSys has been in the news of late. In December of last year, they signed a memorandum of understanding with SK Group, which is a large South Korean conglomerate. The goal of their cooperation is to develop blockchain solutions for enterprises that utilize smart contracts. Another phase of their cooperation is to provide South Korean software developers with training in Ethereum-based software development. This training will be provided through both the ConsenSys Academy and C&C’s Tech Training Center, which is operated by the SK Group. AMD has also been recently active in blockchain technology. Last November, the company worked in conjunction with 7 other leading technology companies to create a set of 8 rigs for mining cryptocurrencies. At the time, AMD said that the cooperation would bring what they called "blockchain compute solutions" to market, and that these solutions would fulfill the requirements of "innovative blockchain platforms." AMD further produced a video about blockchain technology, which detailed the important features of it while explaining how the technology helps create applications that promote trust, security and integrity.