Top banks and R3 build blockchain-based payments system
Fintech firm R3 and 22 of the world’s biggest banks have together developed an international payments system that would allow existing central bank currencies and any new digital ones to be transacted via the blockchain.
The blockchain, which first emerged as the architecture underpinning cryptocurrency bitcoin, is a shared database that updates itself in real-time and can process and settle transactions in minutes using computer algorithms, with no need for third-party verification.
“Natixis believes in the potential of distributed ledger technology for cross-border payments and is exploring several initiatives in that space,” said Frederic Dalibard, head of Digital for Corporate & Investment Banking at Natixis, one of the banks involved in the project.
Other banks that worked on the project – the prototype for which will be released by the end of the year, they said – include Barclays, HBSC and Commerzbank.
