Bank-Backed R3 Launches New Version of Its BlockchainBank-Backed R3 Launches New Version of Its Blockchain
The new version includes a feature that will make it easier for computer developers building applications with the technology to incorporate future upgrades and updates.
October 3, 2017
By Anna Irrera
NEW YORK, Oct 3 (Reuters) - R3 CEV, a New York-based companythat runs a consortium of banks, has released a new version ofits blockchain platform that it hopes will make it easier forfinancial firms to use the nascent technology.
The new version of the company's platform called Cordaincludes a feature that will make it easier for computerdevelopers building applications with the technology toincorporate future upgrades and updates, R3 said on Tuesday.
Blockchain, which first emerged as the system underpinningcryptocurrency bitcoin, is a shared record of transactionsupdated by computers rather than a centralized authority.
Banks and other financial institutions have been investingin the technology for the past few years in the hope that it canbe used to automate some of their back office processes such assecurities settlement and regulatory reporting.
To accelerate development many have joined consortia orcollaborative efforts.
Launched in 2015, R3 is the largest financial consortiumfocused on blockchain globally. Its members include more than100 banks, regulators, trade associations and professionalservices firms.
In May it raised $107 million in May from companiesincluding Bank of America Corp, SBI Holdings Inc, HSBCHoldings Plc, Intel Corp and Temasek Holdings.
R3 has been helping members develop prototypes and runexperiments to test blockchain.
Most recently it announced that it had partnered with theUK's Financial Conduct Authority, the Royal Bank of Scotland andanother global bank to develop an application using Corda toimprove the regulatory reporting of mortgage transactions.
The new version of Corda, which is open-source, is expectedto make it easier for developers to handle upgrades helpingaccelerate its adoption, said Richard Gendal Brown, chieftechnology officer of R3.
"There are a number of people who are building on this orhave done live transactions," Gendal Brown said in an interview."What they get is certainty as they finalize their applicationsand move them into large scale production that they won't havedisruptions"
While Wall Street's enthusiasm around blockchain remainshigh, some are warning that the technology is still young andits potential may be hyped. As it is in its infancy, blockchainhas yet to bee used to run any large scale process in finance.(Reporting by Anna Irrera; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
