The Ethereum-alike blockchain network from Axoni is under development and usage among Goldman Sachs and Citigroup members. Two banks conducted the first equity swap on a new blockchain.
This is a milestone in the development of corporate blockchains. Citigroup has already conducted transactions with Goldman Sachs via the secretive blockchain. The first deal occurred on January 28.
The blockchain solutions company Axoni launches a distributed ledger network. It was founded in 2013, gathered support from JP Morgan, HSBC, Wells Fargo, Franklin Templeton, Citi and finally – Goldman Sachs.
Their equity swap transactions network is a project going through the years. Analysts of the company gather data from 15 major trading companies. It is using fast infrastructure to provide ultra-fast and secured trading settlement between corporate counterparties. Each bank working within the system has its copy of the blockchain. It gains synchronization and rapidly updates the charts.
Brian Steele, Head of global market solutions at Goldman, noted:
“We are excited to be working with innovative tech companies like Axoni, and our industry partners, to develop post-trade solutions that automate business processes and synchronize data on common infrastructure… Goldman Sachs continues to embrace new technology solutions which enhance our front-to-back client experience and deliver operational efficiencies”
The Citi’s Head of DLT department Puneet Singhvi said that the bank is reaching a significant milestone:
“This is a significant milestone that reinforces our commitment to embracing technology to solve real challenges faced by the industry. The platform, using smart contracts, will enable significant efficiencies while mitigating risks in post trade processing of equity swaps”
Many of the Axoni’s banks are the investors in their stocks. The blockchain solutions firm attracted more than $57 million so far.
Citi, Goldman Update Out of Time Software
The blockchain usage is good because it eliminates the need for reconciling the records manually after some mistake. During the trading cycle, the statistic serves the parties in real-time. No more ‘certain periods’ as in the classic banking software.
Unbelievably, the financial institutions all have their own versions of the accounting rules. After the blockchain inception, bankers started the exploration of the faster settlement via blockchain. And the books like Don Tapscott’s ”Blockchain Revolution” or Andreas Antonopoulos’ ”The Internet of Money” help a lot.
This particular use case shows that the banking blockchains might have a future. Don’t listen to bitcoin maxis saying that cryptocurrency is for the ‘freedom-loving’ people. Everyone loves freedom.
This is not some kind of cyberpunk’s privilege to love freedom. Bankers have the right to enjoy the shortcomings it provides too. So, Freedom is in the virtual space, but the banks are half-virtual. Hence Banks do have the chance to improve because the positive building is better than destruction. Also, banks serve with quality, if we take the major client’s debit card usage stats.
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