Banking giant Goldman Sachs has filed a US patent application for a "cryptographic currency for securities settlement".
The application, filed at the end of October and first picked up by Bitcoin Magazine, describes a securities settlement system that would be based on a new cryptocurrency called SETLcoin.
The cryptocurrency's protocol would support a virtual wallet that would act as a security and cash account used by investors and traders for storing and managing the SETLcoin. These coins would then be used for exchanging assets - securities, cash - via a P2P network.
"For example, a virtual wallet can exchange...one or more SETLcoins for, e.g., US dollars and/or other currency at a brokerage account, deposit account, bank account or other financial storage entity," says the application.
The system - invented by senior IT execs Paul Walker and Phil Venables - would therefore guarantee near instantaneous execution and settlement, reducing cost and credit risk, argues the application.