CLS and IBM Launch Long-Awaited Payment Netting Blockchain

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CLS and IBM Launch Long-Awaited Payment Netting Blockchain
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It’s been over two years in the making, but the much-anticipated collaboration between CLS and IBM has finally gone live. And the new CLSNet has already seen some usage, from Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. The two firms also claim that six more participants will be involved over the coming months.

According to Coindesk, Rom Komarraju, the Managing Director of CLS, said, “We have matched and confirmed the first transactions and successfully issued a netting report to the counterparties.” This represents the third IBM-powered project to go live in 2018, underlining the tech giant’s persistence and dedication to blockchain over the last twelve months.

CLS’ position as a leading Forex settlement firm is in no doubt in its current state, but CLS’ chief strategy and development officer, Alan Marquard, believes that automation through a blockchain system will increase speed and efficiency, saying “A standardized and automated payment netting process will lead to improved intraday liquidity, reduced cost, improved operational efficiencies and ultimately support business growth.”

CLSNet works with well over 100 fiat currencies and complies with the FX Global Code of Conduct. Marie Wieck, the general manager of IBM Blockchain, explained, “Since we first pioneered the use of blockchain in the FX market nearly three years ago, IBM has been working hard with CLS on the development and deployment of CLSNet as the first post-trade production deployment of blockchain technology in a global market utility. With CLSNet now in production with two of the world’s largest banks, for a major market function, it is a testament to the ongoing maturity of blockchain technology and the value that it can deliver in practice.”

The concept of blockchain payment settling is certainly not new, but it now beginning to really gather pace. Over most of 2017, it was Ripple making the major headway, with its XRP ledger focusing squarely on the banking market and signing up a long list of major financial players.

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In the midst of this, the accompanying token, XRP, has usurped Ethereum into second place in the crypto index in terms of market value. At the time of writing, there are well over 40 billion XRP in circulation, with a market cap of over $15 billion.

Meanwhile, IBM has worked on the launches of the IBM Food Trust and We.trade, the finance platform, over the last year. One of the most notable names to sign up to the food tracking system has been supermarket giant Carrefour, with others quick to follow as talk of blockchain’s ability to sure up supply chain integrity worldwide gathers pace.

As far as We.trade goes, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, KBC, Natixis, Nordea, Rabobank, Santander, Société Générale and UniCredit have all contributed to the launch of the blockchain project.