Latest Blockchain News: Finextra Research

Natwest Mettle chief quits to join blockchain outfit Near

Marieke Flament has quit NatWest's online business banking offshoot Mettle to join Swiss-based blockhain foundation Near.

17 December 2021

News/crypto

34% of UK finance businesses now making crypto payments - Mercuryo

According to new research by global payment network, Mercuryo, over one third of UK finance businesses are now using blockchain to facilitate payments, as demand for innovation soars.

17 December 2021

News/crypto

Banque de France demos ledger interoperability in CBDC trials

The Banque de France has completed the last of its interbank settlement in CBDC experiments, demonstrating the possibility of direct ledger interoperability in a hybrid cloud environment across multiple technologies and asset classes.

16 December 2021

News/payments

Fnality preps go live with pledge to slash intraday liquidity costs

Backed by some of the world's largest banks, blockchain for payments consortium Fnality says it expects to reduce banks' intraday liquidity requirements by 70% when it goes live next year.

15 December 2021

News/crypto

RBA reports back on CBDC/DLT loan syndication project

A collaborative research project into the use of distributed ledger technology in CBDC loan syndication conducted by the Reserve Bank of Australia in association with Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, Perpetual and ConsenSys Software has demonstrated the potential for significant efficiency gains for businerss customers and market participants.

13 December 2021

News/payments

HSBC and Wells Fargo achieve PvP settlement finality with DLT

HSBC and Wells Fargo have completed the first interbank Payment vs Payment (PvP) settlement outside of CLS using distributed ledger technology from Baton Systems.

13 December 2021

News/crypto

Meta extends Novi payments trial to WhatsApp

Meta (formerly Facebook) has extended the pilot for its Novi digital app to WhatsApp, using a stablecoin to enable participants to send and receive money from within chats.

09 December 2021

News/startups

Tokenised fund for footballers' image rights launches

A Spanish startup has launched what it claims is the world’s first tokenised investment fund focused footballer’s image rights.

09 December 2021

News/crypto

French and Swiss central banks hail completed wholesale CBDC trial

The Banque de France, the Swiss National Bank and BIS Innovation Hub are hailing the completion of their cross-border wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC) experiment.

09 December 2021

News/crypto

Citi, Visa, AmEx invest in crypto-compliance platform TRM Labs

Blockchain intelligence platform TRM Labs has raised $60 million in a Series B funding round joined by a host of big-name firms, including Visa, Amex Ventures, Citi Ventures, PayPal Ventures, and Block (formerly Square).

07 December 2021

News/cloud

SETL demonstrates 1m transactions a second on blockchain

Blockchain settlement and payment infrastructure provider SETL is claiming a "breakthrough moment" after its Regulated Liability Network (RLN) demonstrated that it can process one million transactions per second (tps).

07 December 2021

News/crypto

Square changes name to Block

Payments company Square has changed its name to Block two days after CEO Jack Dorsey left his other company, Twitter.

01 December 2021

News/people

David Marcus quits Facebook

David Marcus has quit as the boss of Facebook parent Meta's fintech unit after leading a frustrating effort to launch the Novi digital wallet and its associated stablecoin Diem.

30 November 2021

News/crypto

Ex-Citi trading exec launches $1.5bn crypto fund

A former Citi trading executive has launched a $1.5 billion fund focused on investing in crypto infrastructure, blockchain protocols, and virtual worlds.

30 November 2021

News/crypto

Japanese banks to test digital currency

A consortium of 74 Japanese firms - including the country's biggest banks - have set out plans to start testing a private sector digital yen in the coming months.

24 November 2021

News/crypto

FCA goes to tender for cryptoassets forensics provider

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority has gone to tender for a third party blockchain data analytics provider.

24 November 2021

News/startups

Open finance challenge winners unveiled

An Australian startup working to green the housing market has won a global open finance challenge run by NAB, CIBC, Itaú Unibanco and NatWest.

23 November 2021

News/crypto

SIX Digital Exchange launches

SIX Digital Exchange has officially launched by issuing the world's first digital bond in a fully regulated environment.

19 November 2021

News/crypto

HSBC joins $200m funding round for ConsenSys

HSBC has joined a $200 million funding round for ConsenSys that values the blockchain software engineering firm at $3.2 billion.

18 November 2021

News/markets

Distributed ledger technology is the key to growth for Deutsche Börse

Analysts at Metzler Capital Markets believe it is likely that distributed ledger technology will become the dominant technology in the business of Clearstream, Deutsche Börse's securities custodian and settlement provider, in the future.

16 November 2021