Nine of the world's leading financial institutions plan to work on the Blockchain in collaboration, forming a consortium led by FinTech development startup R3 CEV.
The nine banks are: JP Morgan Chase, Credit Suisse, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), UBS, Barclays, BBVA, State Street, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Goldman Sachs.
UBS, Barclays and RBS are examples of institutions that have already disclosed their blockchain exploration earlier this year. CBA announced its intention to work with another distributed technology, Ripple, and expressed warm feelings regarding the notion of working with a variety of Cryptocurrencies . BBVA and Goldman Sachs weighed in extensively on the potential of blockchain technology, the latter co-leading bitcoin wallet Circle's most recent funding round.
As more banks have begun toying with the blockchain, they have also come to realize that multiple blockchain systems of little or no interchangeability may end up yielding little or none of their potential value. They are thus coalescing to develop standards and protocols for implementation of the technology in financial services.
Last week, it was announced that UK-based FinTech advocate Innovate Finance will also be working to promote the establishment of uniform standards for blockchain technology, partnering with Hartree Centre to open a research lab.
Kevin Hanley, Director of Design at Royal Bank of Scotland, noted: "The collaborative model we've established with R3 and the other banks is a very effective way to deliver robust shared ledger solutions to the financial services sector. Right now you’re seeing significant money and time being spent on exploration of these technologies in a fractured way that lacks the strategic, coordinated vision so critical to timely success. The R3 model is changing the game."
