5 More Banks, Bitcoin Experts Join R3 Blockchain Consortium

Five more banks have joined a consortium led by FinTech development startup R3 CEV that is looking to collaboratively build a distributed financial ledger.

The latest additions are BNP Paribas, Wells Fargo, ING, MacQuarie and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC). A total of 30 banks, including several global heavyweights, are now part of the consortium.

From the additions, BNP Paribas and CIBC have expressed their interest in Blockchain Blockchain Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tampe Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tampe Read this Term technology in the past, while Wells Fargo and ING have weighed in on Bitcoin.

Financial institutions are envisioning blockchain technologies for a variety of applications including securities settlement and cross-border Payments Payments One of the bases of mediums of exchange in the modern world, a payment constitutes the transfer of a legal currency or equivalent from one party in exchange for goods or services to another entity. The payments industry has become a fixture of modern commerce, though the players involved and means of exchange have dramatically shifted over time.In particular, a party making a payment is referred to as a payer, with the payee reflecting the individual or entity receiving the payment. Most commonl One of the bases of mediums of exchange in the modern world, a payment constitutes the transfer of a legal currency or equivalent from one party in exchange for goods or services to another entity. The payments industry has become a fixture of modern commerce, though the players involved and means of exchange have dramatically shifted over time.In particular, a party making a payment is referred to as a payer, with the payee reflecting the individual or entity receiving the payment. Most commonl Read this Term. Many have been testing their own blockchain systems, but the value of the technology will not be fully realized unless the blockchains are compatible with each other. Hence, a number of initiatives have emerged to either develop the technology in tandem or develop universal standards.

R3 also announced a number of notable appointments to its team. Richard Gendal Brown, former executive architect of banking innovation at IBM, will be managing director and chief technology officer. James Carlyle, previously Barclays' chief engineer for banking architecture, will be chief engineer at R3.

Some notable figures in the cryptocurrency space were also brought on board. Mike Hearn, one of Bitcoin's core developers and previously senior software engineer at Google, will be lead platform engineer. Ian Grigg, a financial cryptographer, will be architecture consultant. And Tim Swanson, a business consultant who has written extensively on blockchain technology, will be head of research.

The CEO, David Rutter, is simultaneously working on a project called LiquidityEdge, a trading platform for US Treasury securities.

It will be interesting to see if the appointment of Bitcoin experts means that Bitcoin's blockchain is in the cards, or that their expertise in Bitcoin and blockchain systems will be leveraged for building private, or 'permissioned' systems. Intuitively, a regulated financial institution would go with the latter, which also poses fewer limitations. However, several notable projects- such as Nasdaq's- are currently working with Bitcoin's blockchain. Hybrid chain models may also be possible.