Japan edges towards blockchain commercialisation
SBI Ripple Asia and the Japan Bank Consortium have “successfully” completed a pilot implementation of RC Cloud, Ripple’s unified blockchain platform for domestic and cross-border payments.
As Banking Technology reported last year, the consortium (full name “The Japan Bank Consortium to Centrally Provide Domestic and Cross-border Payments”) officially launched with 42 member banks. As of the end of February, it now has 47 members. SBI Ripple Asia, a joint venture between Ripple and SBI Holdings, said the consortium will use Ripple’s blockchain for payments and settlement.
According to SBI Holdings, this latest development is the “first in the world” and in the pilot they were able to execute the transactions on “commercial grade” RC Cloud.
SBI Holdings says: “As the world is moving from the pilot phase into the production phase for blockchain technology, we hope that our Japan-originated solution will go beyond Japan and spread across the world.”
The plan is to move towards commercialisation by looking at system development, operation, risk and standardisation.
The consortium has also been discussing and evaluating the implementation of a common gateway to give member banks access to Ripple’s API, and a money transfer application as well as various regulatory issues.
Ripple’s solution is a suite of software components built around the Interledger Protocol (ILP), an open, neutral protocol that enables the interoperation of different ledgers and payment networks and brings together three aspects of modern payment solutions: messaging, settlement and FX management.
