Wall Street’s DTCC Launches Private Blockchain Platform to Settle Trades

New York-based post-trade financial services company, The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), has released a private blockchain project aimed at providing a secure settlement service to clients, according to a press release.

The blockchain platform is called Project Ion and DTCC says it is now processing an average of over 100,000 bilateral equity transactions per day in a parallel processing environment, and almost 160,000 on peak days.

Several leading traditional finance companies such as Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan are dipping their toes into the blockchain industry, with the former president of the New York Stock Exchange claiming that “blockchain technology is going to rewire all financial services,” as quoted in the Wall Street Journal on Monday.

DTCC’s project, which is private and permissioned unlike many traditional blockchain networks such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, is being developed in collaboration with the likes of Barclays, BNY Mellon, Charles Schwab, Citadel Securities, Citi and Credit Suisse.

DTCC has also partnered with software providerR3 to launch Project Ion using R3’s Corda distributed ledger technology (DLT) software.

“Digitized assets and emerging technology like DLT are shaping and evolving the financial services landscape, and we remain committed to advancing innovative solutions that capitalize on opportunities, deliver new value and drive the industry forward,” said Murray Pozmanter, managing director and president of DTCC Clearing Agency Services.

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