The bank-backed R3 CEV blockchain consortium has filed its first patent application, shedding light on Corda, the software that will be central to its shared ledger project, which could begin rolling out within months.
Backed by a host of the world's biggest financial institutions - including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Ping An Financial Services Group - R3 is leading the charge on the development of commercial applications for distributed and shared ledger technology.
In a patent filing seen by the Wall Street Journal, R3 CEV gives a picture of what it has developed over the last year. Dubbed Corda, the software is part of R3's wider blockchain-inspired, shared ledger development project, called Concord in a nod to the harmony being forged between the rivals who have joined the consortium.
Concord aims to address challenges such as governance, internal record keeping and regulatory reporting across the financial services marketplace. By moving middle and back office functions to a secure cloud-based ledger, R3 and its members hope that Concord will significantly streamline operations, leading to cost savings of billions of dollars.
A small number of member banks will begin testing the system early next year, with an alpha version slated to appear by the middle of 2017, R3 told the Journal. It will then be up to members to decide whether to use it.
Separately, blockchain startup Digital Asset Holdings is planning to open-source its smart contracting language, Daml.
"By making DAML more widely available, we intend to enable clients, partners and other vendors to develop, modify and extend DAML Libraries for use with the Digital Asset Platform or other platforms, fostering a vibrant ecosystem of vendors and solutions," says the Blythe Masters-run firm.