EU-Funded Projects in Blockchain Technology

In the recent years, the European Commission has been active in setting up Proof of Concepts, Pilot Projects and EU initiatives to explore, test and understand legal, regulatory, policy, research and funding needs related to blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT). 

This is an attempt at an inventory of past, ongoing and ready-to-start blockchain- and DLT-related EU projects and pilots across Europe.

EU funded projects

As regards R&I projects, the Commission, notably through Horizon 2020, has been funding several EU projects where blockchain and DLT contribute to bringing up new trust paradigms as well as societal, technical and infrastructural solutions. CEF - the Connecting Europe Facility -  is already funding the EU Blockchain Services Infrastructure deployment, including use cases agreed under the EU Blockchain Partnership by the EU Commission with 27 EU Member States, Norway and Liechtenstein.

EU Pilot projects

The Commission is also managing EU Parliament Pilot Projects, which resulted, for instance, in the creation of the EU Blockchain Observatory and Forum. The Commission has also set up EU prizes (e.g. the Blockchain For Social Good EU prize). A new investment fund, "the Blockchain and AI fund", is being created. In 2020, 100 M€ will be allocated to the European Investment Fund (EIF) for being invested in Venture Capital funds, who will then invest in Artifical Intelligence and/or blockchain start-ups. The 100 M€ invested by the EIF (of which 45 M€ coming from H2020 (ICT + RTD), 28 from tthe European Fund for Strategic Investments, 27 from the EIF) will trigger a total of 300 to 400 M€ of investment by the different Venture Capital funds.

More projects and reports

• Blockchain4EU project (Joint Research Centre)
• Blockchain for government report
• Upcoming: JRC is preparing a Flagship Report on Blockchain (to be published soon)

Topics and technologies

The currently funded projects have been grouped under a cluster of topics and technologies: e-identity and decentralised data management, healthcare and education, privacy and cybersecurity, IoT and smart homes, grids and cities, music and media, industrial technologies, environment and circular economy. This list is not exhaustive and it may expand depending on new projects being identified and funded.

Projects: