Business advisory firm Deloitte is setting up an Emea financial services blockchain centre in Dublin that will house a team of 50 developers and designers.
The company says that the team, to be built up over the next 18 months, will focus on developing proof-of-concepts into functioning prototypes that can become 'ready to integrate' offerings for financial services clients.
Deloitte has bet big on distributed ledger technology. Earlier this month the firm revealed that it is working with five prominent blockchain companies - BlockCypher, Bloq, ConsenSys, Loyyal and the Stellar Development Foundation - to provide new technological capabilities to its global financial institution clientbase.
It is already developing 20 blockchain-related prototypes that cover a multitude of uses such as digital identity, digital banking, cross-border payments, and loyalty and rewards, as well as in the investment management and insurance sectors.
David Dalton, head, financial services, Deloitte Ireland, says: "There is significant demand from clients who are looking to use blockchain to speed up payments and transfer clearances, settlements, reconciliations and digital identity, and many other use cases.
"By bringing together the best of Deloitte experts and building upon our capabilities, we believe our lab will play a significant role in lifting blockchain use to a new level."