UPDATED 21:15 EDT / JANUARY 14 2019

BLOCKCHAIN

HSBC ran $250B in transactions through its blockchain platform in 2018

Global banking conglomerate HSBC Holdings PLC isn’t just talking about blockchain solutions but doing things, revealing that it ran $250 billion in transactions through its in-house blockchain platform last year.

The figure comes from HSBC’s implementation of a private blockchain to handle more than 3 million foreign exchange transactions in 2018.

While only representing a “tiny sliver of its overall currencies business,” the Financial Times noted, that “still offers a rare example of a blockchain-based product that has proven its worth in wholesale finance.”

A press release from the bank cited by Coindesk claims that the platform has resulted in “significant efficiencies and opportunities.” In addition, HSBC said, using its distributed ledger technology platform allowed it to verify that payments are settled without needing external confirmation, unify intra-company trade data on a “shared, single version of the truth” and consolidate its view of cash flows.

“Following successful implementation inside the bank, we are now exploring how this technology could help multinational clients – who also have multiple treasury centers and cross-border supply chains – better manage foreign exchange flows within their organizations,” Richard Bibbey, HSBC’s interim global head of FX and commodities, told the Times.

HSBC has been a longstanding proponent of blockchain platforms. It signed up in 2017 to be a founding member of a blockchain project that sought to replace traditional clearinghouses.

In July, the bank teamed with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and rival Standard Chartered PLC to launch a one-of-a-kind multibank blockchain trade finance platform. More recently, HSBC was reported to be working with ING Groep NV and R3 HoldCo LLC on a Letter of Credit blockchain platform in India.

Photo: singapor3/Flickr

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