The development of R3’s enterprise blockchain platform Corda is being plagued by fundamental disagreements over its core vision, causing frustration and delay. The claim was made in a report from FT Alphaville on Aug. 22, citing numerous insider sources. “Corda maximalists” versus interoperability proponents Sources close to R3 reportedly allege that there is a gulf between Corda’s engineers and its senior management as regards the product’s design and development. The engineers have purportedly lost faith in the technology itself, considering it to be functioning poorly and underscoring that it lacks scalability. They have also pointed to the allegedly 5-figure monthly …

Commerzbank and Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW) have completed another milestone trade on the Marco Polo platform. As reported Aug. 15, on this occasion, logistics provider Logwin AG was integrated into the digital process chain, digitally and in real time. Same same but different As with an earlier transaction, the trade took place between German supplier KSB and Taiwanese mechanical engineering group Voith. Another shipment of special hydraulic couplings was delivered using blockchain technology via the Marco Polo trade finance network. However, for the first time ever this transaction included the integration of logistics provider Logwin with transport details being entered directly …

Blockchain development company Truffle has unveiled plans to expand its fully managed developer suite to include support for the blockchain protocols Corda, Hyperledger Fabric and Tezos. Truffle founder and CEO Tim Coulter announced the company’s plans at TruffleCon 2019 — Truffle’s annual dev conference — on Microsoft’s campus in Redmond, Washington. Coulter commented on how he thinks these tools will pave the way for collaboration via interoperability, saying: “We are empowering developers to build enterprise-grade solutions on any network of their choosing, creating a path for future cross-network collaboration.” According to a press release shared with Cointelegraph, the Truffle Suite …

New York-based enterprise software firm R3, known for its enterprise blockchain platform Corda, has doubled the size of its London Wall office. Business intelligence firm Mondo Visione reported on the company’s new hiring goals on Aug. 1. According to the report, R3 has increased the size of its London branch as partial accommodation for the company’s intended 85 global hires by the end of 2019. Out of the 85, over half are intended to be installed in the company’s London office. R3 is reportedly primarily recruiting software engineers, but will also onboard some commercial and client-facing professionals. Additionally, the report …

Fintech firm Token has received a $16.5 million injection from investors including the venture arm of banking giant BNP Paribas, a news release announced on June 18. The self-described open banking platform says it will use the capital to further develop its TokenOSTM operating system — and “accelerate new ways of innovating payments with digital money and ID solutions.” According to the company, its ecosystem enables banks, customers and developers to complete transactions securely, instantly and with less friction. Token claims more than 4,000 banks have connected to its platform, with Mastercard recently coming on board as a partner. Steve …

Blockchain software consortium R3 revealed that it is developing a blockchain platform in Brazil with banks Bradesco, Itau and B3, Cointelegraph Brazil reported on June 12. The R3 Consortium — which is composed of large banks and technology companies — announced during the CIAB Febraban event in São Paulo that it is currently collaborating with Brazilian banks. During the event, R3 executives claimed that the consortium partnered with Itau and Bradesco banks to build a blockchain-enabled platform for foreign trade and insurance. The consortium — which recently opened an office in the country — further noted that the Brazilian stock …

CULedger, a blockchain consortium and credit union service organization (CUSO), has chosen enterprise software firm R3’s Corda blockchain to underpin its forthcoming cross-border payments product. The news was reported by fintech news outlet Finextra on May 21. As reported, CULedger joined the R3 global blockchain ecosystem in December 2018. The blockchain CUSO implements the technology to improve cybersecurity and mitigate fraud risks, as well as to streamline administrative and operational processes for the credit union industry. CULedger also provides a specific blockchain-based identification solution for credit union members. CULedger’s forthcoming product, dubbed CU Pay, has reportedly been designed to enable …

British financial software firm Finastra has signed three global banks on its R3 Corda blockchain-based syndicated loans platform, the firm officially announced on May 14. France-based banking institutions BNP Paribas, Natixis, and Societe Generale have officially joined Finastra’s syndicated lending platform Fusion LenderComm, following previous pilots back in 2017. Based on blockchain consortium R3’s open source blockchain platform Corda Enterprise, Finastra’s Fusion LenderComm reportedly enables banks to instantly share credit agreements, accrual balances and position data to lenders. Cécile Bartenieff, Chief Operating Officer of Global Banking and Investor Solutions at Societe Generale, stated that the Fusion LenderComm initiative will bring …

Over 50 banks participated in the simulation of letter of credit transactions on R3’s blockchain platform in 27 countries on six continents. The company announced the development in a press release published on May 8. Per the release, 96% of the participants said that the system — dubbed Voltron — will accelerate and reduce the cost of their letters of credits procedure. Furthermore, 86% of them reportedly believe the inefficiencies of the traditional system are becoming intolerable. The company claims that Voltron cuts the execution time of the procedure from 5-10 days to under 24 hours. R3 states that, as …

Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) has announced it will pilot R3’s Marco Polo blockchain network for trade finance, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on May 8. As previously reported, Marco Polo — which is powered by R3’s Corda enterprise blockchain platform — counts major international banks such as BNP Paribas, ING and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation as members. Other prominent bank members include Standard Chartered Bank and NatWest, according to today’s press release. RBI has reportedly been eyeing expansion in the Central and Eastern Europe market, after reporting a consolidated profit of 1.27 billion euros (around $142 …

Blockchain consortium R3 and global IT leader Wipro Limited have developed a blockchain solution prototype to enable digital currency for interbank settlements in Thailand, according to a press release from May 7. The release states that the solution will be used by the country’s central bank, the Bank of Thailand (BoT), and eight local commercial banks to enable decentralized interbank real-time gross settlement using a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC). As a part of the first phase of the project, dubbed Inthanon, the solution is based on R3’s open source blockchain platform Corda, and intends to expand the technological …

Major Japanese bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), will leverage R3’s Marco Polo blockchain network for trade finance, local cryptocurrency news outlet CoinDesk Japan reported on April 25. SMBC, which is Japan’s third-largest bank by assets, plans to roll out blockchain services in the second half of 2019. Other currency members of Marco Polo, which is powered by R3’s Corda enterprise blockchain platform, include banks such as BNP Paribas and ING. The product successfully conducted its first trade finance operations in March, an operation involving two German firms and local bank Commerzbank. “Trade finance […] is very complicated, and many …