Goldman Sachs Leads $95M Funding for Blockchain Payments Firm Finality – Report
Global investment bank Goldman Sachs and French universal bank BNP Paribas have reportedly led new funding for Fnality, a blockchain-based wholesaler backed by Nomura Group.
Fnality has raised 77.7 million British pounds ($95.09 million) in a second round of funding, Reuters reported on Nov. 13. In addition to Goldman and BNP Paribas, the fund raising includes participation from settlement houses such as Euroclear and Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation. Other investors include global exchange-traded fund firm Wisdomtree and Finality's existing investor Nomura.
There was also additional investment from first round backers Banco Santander, BNI Mellon, Barclays, CIBC, Commerzbank, ING, Lloyds Banking Group, Nasdaq Ventures, State Street, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and UBS. As previously reported, UBS and other international banks invested 55 million pounds ($63.2 million) in Finality in June 2019 to launch a blockchain-based trade settlement platform.
The new capital will be used to develop an around-the-clock global liquidity management network for new digital payment models in wholesale financial markets, according to Finality. The increase lays the groundwork for the introduction of a sterling final payment system in 2023, which has been approved by the Bank of England.
“Fnality's blockchain technology application will allow institutions to use central bank funds for a wide range of uses,” said Matthew McDermott, Goldman's global head of digital assets. These include “instant, cross-border, cross-currency payments, collateral portability and security transactions,” he said.
Related: Swiss bank UBS launches tokenized money market fund on Ethereum
Fnality is a UBS-led blockchain project founded in 2019 that aims to build digital versions of transactions involving wholesale payments and digital securities. The company was originally launched as the Utility Settlement Coin, or USC, project, which was intended to simulate fiat currencies like the US dollar or euro on an Ethereum-based blockchain.
Other global banks, such as multinational banking firm JPMorgan, have been actively exploring blockchain and tokenization. In early November, JPMorgan launched a new programmatic payments feature targeting institutional investors on its JPM Coin platform.
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