India-based uTrade Solutions has launched uClear, a blockchain tech solution for real-time clearing and settlement for financial markets. The first taker is Global Markets Exchange (GMEX) Group. It will integrate uClear next month through its GMEX Technologies subsidiary and with the support of its development partner, Forum Trading Solutions. Hirander Misra, CEO of GMEX Group […]
Volante Technologies has launched a new solution – as part of its VolPay Foundation payments platform – for integration with Ripple’s distributed ledger technology. Volante’s software has been Ripple-ready since last autumn, says the vendor, and following “close engagement with Ripple” it has now brought to market an “integration solution wholly designed to simplify the […]
It’s difficult to avoid writing about distributed ledger technologies, so we won’t. Last month Australian Craig Wright claimed to be the elusive inventor of bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto. Displaying uncharacteristic scepticism, many mainstream media outlets doubted his claims. Whether it’s true or not, the story attracted great interest. Distributed ledger, blockchain (some argue the two are […]
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! ECB goes to tender for new treasury management system After many years it’s time for a change. Microsoft unveils blockchain-based identity system Inspired by the United Nations’ ID2020 Summit on Identity. Student Loans Company puts IT contract with […]
Microsoft is collaborating with Blockstack Labs and ConsenSys, and developers across the globe on an open source, self-sovereign, blockchain-based identity system. The announcement by Microsoft follows its participation at the United Nations’ ID2020 Summit on Identity. Yorke Rhodes, blockchain business strategist, Microsoft, says: “Without legal identification, children and people are invisible to society which makes […]
PayPal has filed a US patent application for a modular payment module that accepts Bitcoin and other digital currencies. The application names Bitcoin, Litecoin and Dogecoin; and sets out the physical characteristics of the module. It says: “The module includes a chassis which has a modular device connector. A payment database in the chassis stores […]
Intel has teamed with The Floor, a fintech hub located at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, to create its own fintech innovation centre in Israel. This is Intel’s first move into the fintech sector as it looks to capitalise on the demand for bitcoin and blockchain solutions in banking and finance. It may also be […]
SETL, the institutional payment and settlement infrastructure based on blockchain, has launched its OpenCSD platform. The blockchain-powered platform, SETL’s first commercial offering, enables any market participant to commission and run a permissioned registry service for payments, settlement and clearing of cash and other “financial instruments”. It has been benchmarked to “settle billions of transactions a […]
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Swift hacks sees 12 more banks under attack A fast moving chain of events. High five for Apple Pay in Singapore Big banks onboard include OCBC and Standard Chartered. NYSE launches new trading tech platform, NYSE Pillar The […]
Nasdaq has launched the Nasdaq Financial Framework for financial infrastructure providers. The framework is “immediately” available to more than 100 market operator clients globally, including traditional exchanges, inter-broker dealers and alternative trading venues, clearing houses and central securities depositories (CSDs). Adena Friedman, president and COO, Nasdaq, says the framework is the result of “significant R&D […]
Deloitte is pioneering an integration project combining Ripple’s protocol and Temenos’ core banking software for direct bank-to-bank settlements in real time. Deloitte says the overall objective of the Ripple integration is to enable financial institutions to send payments, either in local or foreign currency, in real time without relying on intermediary banking relationships. Ripple offers […]
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Android Pay now in the UK; Australia and Singapore are next Coming to a country near you… possibly. Vietnam’s Tien Phong Bank stops attempted fraud through Swift system Stop! In the name of the law. Sydney Stock Exchange […]
UK-based RISE Financial Technologies claims to be “the first technology firm to launch the second generation of blockchain for the post-trade sector”. The solution is now undergoing testing with a number f banks, custodians and CSDs. The results will be published in H2 2016. RISE develops multi-asset class, multi-currency distributed financial ledger technology for the […]
With news on blockchain and bitcoin appearing thick and fast, here’s a round-up of key events to save you time. The Swift Institute has published new research on the practical application of blockchain (or mutual distributed ledger) in securities markets. The paper, “The Impact and Potential of Blockchain on the Securities Transaction Lifecycle”, is based […]
IBM has launched a new framework for “securely” operating blockchain networks, as well as new services on the IBM Cloud that are designed to meet existing regulatory and security requirements. Working with teams of security experts, cryptographers, hardware experts and researchers, IBM says it has created new cloud services for “tamper-resistant, trusted” blockchain networks. Jerry […]
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Bank of Ireland ponders major IT overhaul Irish eyes are smiling… or at least weighing up their options. MSB and FDH Bank to merge on Temenos’ T24 core system The die has been cast. Neptune’s Rubikon crossed out. […]
EdgeVerve Systems, a product subsidiary of Infosys, has launched a blockchain framework targeted at the financial services sector. Called EdgeVerve Blockchain Framework, it is a permissioned ledger that allows banks to deploy blockchain-based services for “varied” business areas. EdgeVerve says it can “scale to the levels needed to support international, cross-border transactional business”; and therefore […]
Morgan Stanley has brought blockchain back to earth, calling it a “double-edged sword” because while it helps banks reduce clutter, profits could fall or shift to new players. In its 31-page report, “Global Insight: Blockchain in Banking: Disruptive Threat or Tool?”, the company predicts blockchain’s “widespread potential to disrupt financial intermediaries” but says there are […]
Blockchain is a revolution in reconciliation but not in payments, is one of the messages coming out of the Swift Business Forum London 2016. For the sixth edition of the show, more than 1,300 delegates were rammed and jammed into Tobacco Dock, London. This morning’s (20 April) sessions were dominated by warm-up speeches that praised […]
Distributed ledger specialist Digital Asset Holdings has acquired a small Swiss start-up, Elevence Digital Finance. Elevence’s niche is a modelling language for determining rights and obligations in blockchain collaboration agreements. Its takeover provides Digital Asset with a new, verifiable way for parties involved in a transaction to independently prove updates to a distributed ledger while […]
Chain, a provider of blockchain technology infrastructure, has teamed with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) to build blockchain solutions for Japan’s financial sector. Satoshi Murabayashi, CIO, in charge of digital innovation, at MUFG, says it wants to “explore the application of next-generation financial infrastructure that we believe could significantly enhance the experience for our clients”. […]
The blockchain (and bitcoin) industry welcomes regulations, but has to share the limelight with other digital currencies, as regulators look to deal with its rise and implications. At yesterday’s (4 April) afternoon session, “Blockchain and digital currency: Regulatory perspectives” at Money 20/20 in Copenhagen, a panel discussed the burning issues of the day. Present were […]
The latest edition of our flagship magazine – Banking Technology – is out now, packed with news, analysis and insights, case studies, research and expert commentary.
“I’ve forgotten – woe is me! What the magic word may be.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (1797) How smart is your code? So-called “smart contracts” are science fiction realised. Executable pieces of code stored on a mutual distributed ledger for future execution bind people and payments to actions and outcomes. Computer scientist […]
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) and Digital Asset Holdings have teamed up to develop and test a distributed ledger (blockchain) solution for repurchase agreement (repo) clearing. Blockchain will be used to manage the clearing and settlement of US treasury, agency, and agency mortgage-backed repo transactions. Mike Bodson, president and CEO of DTCC, says: […]
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, but the blockchain protocol behind it can be used for a variety of non-currency purposes. People are using the blockchain to develop everything from ride-sharing services to voting applications to cloud storage. This nifty infographics sums up how the blockchain protocol works and how it’s being used. Source: Who is hosting this?
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! MasterCard mulls VocaLink acquisition There are some things money can buy. US to move to shorter T+2 settlement cycle by September 2017 Make a note, industry target has been unveiled. Big US banks to fight for instant payments […]
With challenges across the board, banks will have their work cut out to keep up with the changing world of payments in 2016. It is shaping up to be a pivotal year for the payments industry as regulation, new technology, major infrastructure overhaul projects and security issues combine to reshape the landscape. According to a […]
Korea Exchange (KRX), the securities exchange operator in South Korea, plans to launch a platform powered by blockchain to liven up the off-board trading market. According to The Korean Times, KRX has started “preliminary steps” to introduce the new platform connecting sellers and buyers to trade securities directly. “Though many steps remain before the system’s […]
A quiet revolution powered by the force of data science has begun to deliver significant improvements in many areas including national security, business intelligence, law enforcement, financial analysis, healthcare and disaster preparedness. But are we ready to use the force in banking? Standard Chartered’s global chief innovation officer, Anju Patwardhan, explores the topic. Digital data […]
Mizuho Financial Group and Cognizant have teamed up to develop a blockchain solution for the “secure” record-keeping of documents among Mizuho Financial Group companies around the world. The agreement is the beginning of Mizuho’s programme to use blockchain for building new work processes for transactions and digital interactions. This engagement will initially focus on New […]
Distributed ledgers have a role to play in identity verifications, but there are potential pitfalls, state Professor Michael Mainelli and Vinay Gupta. They are increasingly touted as the answer to the identity problems plaguing finance and government. They may well be part of the answer, but more important is recognising they are only tools to help […]
Blockchain gets another boost as IBM has made nearly 44,000 lines of code available to the Linux Foundation’s open source Hyperledger Project to help developers build secure distributed ledgers. IBM has also made a range of announcements spanning technology and business consulting to “rapidly advance the use of distributed ledger technology across multiple industries”. These […]
Chainalysis, a New York-based cyber security start-up, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) on collaborating to fight online crime. Chainalysis aims to change “negative headlines where digital currencies have been connected to fraud and cybercrime” and is tracking digital identities on the blockchain. The start-up says its software […]
New York-based Digital Asset Holdings, a developer of distributed ledger technology (aka blockchain), has teamed up with Accenture, Broadridge and PwC. Digital Asset says it has entered into non-exclusive strategic business relationships with the companies, and Blythe Masters, CEO of Digital Asset, says the alliances will “accelerate innovation” and “drive growth”. The Accenture relationship will […]
Estonia’s e-Residency platform will use a blockchain-based e-voting service to allow shareholders of companies listed on Nasdaq’s Tallinn Stock Exchange, to vote in shareholder meetings. The country’s e-Residency platform is an electronic identity system used by both Estonian residents and those with business interests in the country to access government services through e-Residency digital authentication. The program […]
In a new whitepaper, the US post-trade infrastructure provider Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC), has voiced its belief that the financial services industry “has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine and modernise its infrastructure” by employing blockchain in a coordinated manner. Blockchain is the transaction model used to transfer ownership of crypto-currency bitcoin. It was developed […]
Cross-border payments and ACH operator Earthport has launched a distributed ledger hub, which it says will help banks to make cross-border payments cheaper and more efficient.
The distributed ledger – the central nervous system of the Bitcoin system – is the most sweeping departure from the long-standing financial bookkeeping practices followed since the codification of the Medici’s double entry accounting system.
A range of financial services and technology firms are backing efforts by The Linux Foundation to develop “an enterprise grade, open source distributed ledger framework”.
