For the longest time, a lot of people have been wondering when we would see some of the blockchain projects come to life. The financial sector is keen on this technology, yet very few tangible evidence of their research has been shown so far. Euroclear, the European depository, is greenlighting the public launch of their Bankchain platform in 2017.
Euroclear Bankchain Goes Live In 2017
The news about Euroclear’s blockchain venture was announced quite some time ago. The depository has been eyeing blockchain technology for the bullion trade market and conducted several trials of their technology in the past few months. So far, over 600 OTC test bullion trades were settled on bankchain over at course of two weeks, which is a solid number.
Together with several leading London bullion market participants, Euroclear completed this trial without issues. Among the participants are Scotiabank, INTL FCStone, Citi, and Societe Generale. All trades were settled quickly, and without friction. These trials further validated the viability of blockchain technology fin traditional finance.
So far, the Euroclear Bankchain Market Advisory Group consist of 17 members, and more participants are expected to join once this solution goes live. Paxos is the company responsible for providing the blockchain platform powering the Bankchain solution. By embracing this technology settlement is taken care of instantly, and London bullion market trading risk is minimized.
Euroclear Director of Product Strategy and Innovation Angus Scott stated:
“This is a real first step in bringing a new settlement capability to the London bullion market that will help lower risk and simplify the post-trade process. Another market simulation will occur in early 2017, with the final production launch scheduled for later in the year.”
Merging the bullion sector with blockchain technology is quite an intriguing development. Unfortunately, Euroclear is making use of at private ledger, rather than keeping things out in the open. Them again, that is the approach most financial players are taking right now, even though it remains to be seen if that is the right way to go.
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