R3 seeks to play-down bank departures
Blockchain consortium R3 has
played-down speculation over its future after three of its top backers quit the
group by saying it "always expected the make-up of the consortium to
change over time".
In the past week, banking giants
Goldman Sachs, Santander and Morgan Stanley have decided to leave R3, according
to media reports, prompting speculation over its future.
A spokesperson for R3 told FOW in a
statement: “R3 has built a working consortium of over 70 banks and other
institutions which has become the de facto centre of gravity for the
development of distributed ledger technology in the wholesale financial
markets. As with any project of this scale and scope, we always expected the
make-up of the consortium to change over time."
The spokesperson added:
"Developing technology like this requires dedication and significant
resources, and our diverse pool of members all have different capacities and
capabilities which naturally change over time."
The group also continues to add new
members, with ABN Amro, Fifth Third Bank, Suncorp and Synchrony Financial,
joining in recent weeks. The departure of the three banking giants, however,
has led to speculation over the future of the group.
“The crux of the issue is not to do
with the interest in or potential of blockchain technology, but to do with the
commercials of the business model. It’s not yet clear how this is going to
work, other than the banks are adamant they are not going to create another
commercial entity that can hold them over a barrel when it comes to operating
fees," Nick Weisfeld, data practice head and blockchain specialist at tech
consultancy GFT, told FOW.
Weisfeld suggested R3 competitor
Digital Asset Holdings could be close to releasing a platform like Corda, R3’s
flagship technology set for release at the end of this month.
Since the start of last year, the
finance industry is said to have ploughed more than $1 billion into blockchain
technologies. Major banks and exchanges are either funding start-ups or
developing the technology internally while the US regulator recently called
for "do no harm" regulation.
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