Citi and JPMorgan Partner with U.S. Financial Firms to Investigate Shared Ledger Technology for Multiasset Transactions

Citi, JPMorgan, Mastercard, Swift, and Deloitte are major companies in the financial services industry that are working together to explore the sharing of ledger technology. They are considering simulating multi-asset transactions in U.S. dollars as part of their research project called the Regulated Settlement Network (RSN) proof-of-concept (PoC). This project aims to investigate the potential of bringing commercial bank money, wholesale central bank money, and securities like U.S. Treasuries and investment-grade debt to a common regulated venue.

The New York Innovation Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York will be acting as a technical observer for the project. Debopama Sen, global head of payments at Citi Services, expressed excitement about the opportunities this project presents for Citi in the digital economy. However, the participants in the program are not required to commit to any future phases of research after the initial phase is completed.

The collaboration between these companies is focused on reaching a consensus on the use of shared ledger technology within the U.S. financial system. The findings from this research will be published once the project is concluded. Raj Dhamodharan, executive vice president for blockchain and digital assets at Mastercard, believes that utilizing shared ledger technology for dollar settlements could lead to a new generation of market infrastructures with 24/7 programmable settlements that are frictionless.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) will be managing the program, which includes participation from other companies such as TD Bank N.A., U.S. Bank, USDF, Wells Fargo, Visa, and Zions Bancorp. This research project aims to explore the potential benefits and challenges of using shared ledger technology in the financial industry.