Fnality International, a London-based fintech backed by UBS and Goldman Sachs, is set to expand its blockchain-based payment system by adding the US dollar.
Fnality currently offers a blockchain-based sterling payment system, and started its first transactions in December with users including Lloyds, Santander, and UBS.
“So far, we are only dealing in sterling blockchain payments, but we are about to turn our attention to the US,” Fnality chief executive Rhomaios Ram told Financial News.
“Among all the international markets, we are leaning towards the US first. That’s our first priority. We are in the process of discussing our application with the Federal Reserve,” he added.
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As well as UBS and Goldman Sachs, Fnality is backed by other prominent names in financial services including Santander, BNP Paribas, BNY Mellon, Barclays, Nasdaq Ventures, and Nomura.
Fnality raised £77.7m in a Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas-led series B funding round in November 2023.
“All of our shareholders have businesses in the US. They want to use this blockchain-based system for dollar transactions as well,” Ram said.
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“The US is not the only market we are looking at. We have plans for Europe and we also want to include Japan and Canada in the future,” he added.
The adoption of blockchain technology across institutional financial services sector has grown after initial interest from retail players. While banks such as Goldman Sachs and UBS have decided to invest in blockchain companies, JPMorgan created a dedicated unit focused on blockchain technology and tokenisation.
JPMorgan launched its Onyx in 2020 and has settled more than $300bn in transactions through JPM Coin since. In a November interview with FN, Onyx CEO Umar Farooq said the firm is planning to expand its blockchain-based payment services by including sterling.
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