There has always been a correlation between Bitcoin and gold, although both vehicles of value are targeting very different crowds. At the same time, Euroclear is integrating Bitcoin technology into the bullion markets, to provide additional transparency and faster transfers of value. They will do so in collaboration with Paxos, a fintech company providing custom blockchain solutions to its clients.
Custom blockchain service providers are not hard to come by these days. Most companies – particularly in the traditional financial sector- prefer to use permissioned distributed ledgers. An open standard, such as the Bitcoin protocol, would not be in their best interest, as they can’t exert control over it.
A Big Step For Paxos and Euroclear
As a result, blockchain service providers are getting a lot of attention. Paxos is one of the companies active in this space, and they have caught the attention of Euroclear. By collaborating with one of the world’s largest settlement houses, a new blockchain settlement system will be created. The name of this new venture will be Euroclear Bankchain, designed to improve the bullion markets.
Paxos CEO Charles Cascarilla had the following to say:
“We are coming to market with a ground-breaking offering that will dramatically impact the post-trade process and overall trading infrastructure within the global gold market. This product represents the first concrete blockchain use case for gold settlement in the London Bullion Market and is poised to benefit all investors and key stakeholders through our revolutionary Bankchain™ offering. We are pleased to commemorate our progress at today’s signing, at this important industry gathering.”
Euroclear has always remained neutral in the market infrastructure business. Even though they are one of the world’s leading settlement houses, they never had an outspoken preference for particular technologies. However, to maintain their record of high quality and reliable post-trade services, innovative technologies are required. This is where distributed ledgers come into the picture. Settlement of unallocated gold is very capital-intensive right now, and new technologies can help reduce risk and costs significantly.
This announcement was made during the SIBOS Annual Conference in Geneva, which is taking place this week. Blockchain has become one of the hottest topics in finance, and the event presents an excellent stage to announce new and powerful partnerships. Although the collaboration had been announced earlier in 2016, Paxos and Euroclear made everything official a few hours ago.
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