Payments And Capital Markets Blockchain Developments Continue To Progress

This week saw several blockchain-related developments in the payments and capital market spaces. In payments, a major global technology company's newly announced remittance system claims to enable faster and less costly cross-border payments. According to the company's website, a counterparty using the system converts its fiat currency into a digital asset that contains settlement instructions; simultaneously, the system converts the digital asset into the second counterparty's chosen fiat currency, and all relevant transaction details are recorded onto a blockchain to complete clearing.

Startup TransferGo has announced a similar system using Ripple that allows for real-time fund transfers from Europe to India, a corridor through which billions of dollars in currency currently flow. Transfers now, including through Swift, take up to three days to complete. For those willing to wait so long, TransferGo says it will allow free transfers through a separate system. In a