German central bank Deutsche Bundesbank and Frankfurt Stock Exchange owner Deutsche Börse have reported successfully completed tests for blockchain prototypes.
Image: Deutsche Bundesbank along with Deutsche Börse has reported success from their blockchain settlement trial. Photo: courtesy of MBisanz/Wikipedia.org.
Deutsche Bundesbank is the central bank of the Federal Republic of Germany and as such part of the European System of Central Banks.
Deutsche Börse and Deutsche Bundesbank have concluded the evaluation tests of their jointly specified prototypes for securities settlement centered on blockchain technology.
The partners believe that the two prototypes support the settlement of securities transactions, payments, interest payments as well as repayments at the maturity of a bond.
The aim of the blockchain settlement project was to create a conceptual prototype for a blockchain-based transfer and settlement of both securities and cash.
Deutsche Börse Group Clearstream Banking CEO and Clearstream Global Operations head Berthold Kracke said: “We are very happy with the results of the project. The tests have shown that blockchain technology is a suitable basis for applications in the field of settlement and other financial infrastructures.
“Thanks to the cooperation with Deutsche Bundesbank and the expertise of Digital Asset, we were able to tailor the product to the needs of the industry.”
The blockchain settlement technology was run on the Hyperledger Fabric (version 1.0) and also the Digital Asset Platform and was put up to demanding performance tests, said Deutsche Bundesbank and Deutsche Börse.
Deutsche Bundesbank executive board member Burkhard Balz said: “During this project, Deutsche Bundesbank and Deutsche Börse learned a lot about the usage of this technology and its concrete implementation. We expect the rapid development to continue, and also see the potential in using it for high-volume applications.
“The approach of a permissioned architecture, which takes into account the requirements of the financial sector from the outset, has proven to be right.”
The blockchain-based prototypes were created following a collaborative research project between Deutsche Börse and the Deutsche Bundesbank to take up research in blockchain settlement technology.
The firms said that the tests in the blockchain settlement trial demonstrated both the prototypes to be suitable for the productive operation of a realistic financial market infrastructure while serving as a basis for further development.
Also, the Digital Asset Platform and the Hyperledger Fabric had released newer versions which can potentially improve the performance, said the financial institutions.