Distributed ledger technology

A number of large banks, the Federal Reserve of New York and Swift participated in a proof of concept of a shared ledger that would allow cross-border transactions to settle instantly in U.S. dollars — with regulators literally in the loop. 

A blueprint for a shared ledger for digital money would include central bank digital currencies, bank deposits and e-money from companies like PayPal — but not unsupervised cryptocurrencies.

Customers Bank, Cogent Bank and Western Alliance bank settled 400  transactions among themselves in real time, over the course of eight hours.

Distributed ledger projects in banking are few and far between — many have stalled and others remain experiments. Robert Townsend, who has worked with banks around the world and written a book about blockchain technology, explains some of the ways financial institutions could be using it, for instance in small-business lending and supply chain finance.

Olaf Carlson-Wee, founder and CEO of the cryptocurrency hedge fund Polychain Capital, discusses which digital currencies and blockchain technologies are reshaping payments and which are “nonsense projects.”

The digital currency and related distributed-ledger technologies could "enhance the efficiency, effectiveness and stability of the provision of payments," according to an interpretive letter issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Founder Caitlin Long says the blockchain bank plans to issue a virtual currency and help hedge funds and family offices trade digital assets now that it has a special-purpose banking charter in Wyoming.

After selling the rights to its Ethereum-based technology, the bank is rebranding a venture related to cross-border payments and creating a new umbrella group to oversee all blockchain-related efforts.

After selling the rights to its Ethereum-based technology, the bank is rebranding a venture related to cross-border payments and creating a new umbrella group to oversee all blockchain-related efforts.

Bank of America is applying a familiar arsenal — including APIs and its popular virtual assistant, Erica — to online business banking, cross-border payments and cash management in an effort to modernize those services.