ZURICH (Reuters) – Six new banks have joined a UBS-led (UBSG.S) effort to create a digital cash system that would allow financial markets to make payments and settle transactions quickly via blockchain technology.
The group aims to launch the system late next year.
Barclays (BARC.L), Credit Suisse (CSGN.S), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO), HSBC (HSBA.L), MUFG (8306.T) and State Street (STT.N) have joined the group developing the “utility settlement coin” (USC), a digital cash equivalent of each of the major currencies backed by central banks, UBS said on Thursday.
The group is in discussions with central banks and regulators and is aiming for a “limited ’go live’” in the latter part of 2018, UBS’s head of strategic investment and fintech innovation told the Financial Times.
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