Euroclear and Paxos launch blockchain for gold settlement in London Bullion Market

Financial technology company Paxos has teamed up with Euroclear to work on a blockchain for gold settlement in the London Bullion Market, called Euroclear Bankchain.

The announcement was made during a signing ceremony event at the SIBOS Annual Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, where Paxos and Euroclear officials and market participants celebrated their collaboration announced earlier this year.

Paxos CEO Charles Cascarilla said: "We are coming to market with a ground-breaking offering that will dramatically impact the post-trade process and overall trading infrastructure within the global gold market.

"This product represents the first concrete blockchain use case for gold settlement in the London Bullion Market and is poised to benefit all investors and key stakeholders through our revolutionary Bankchain<sup>TM offering. We are pleased to commemorate our progress at today's signing, at this important industry gathering."

Cascarilla first launched Bankchain as a blockchain for gold and precious metals under the umbrella of itBit, the cryptocurrency exchange company.

Luc Vantomme, managing director and Global Head of Innovation, Euroclear added: "As a neutral market infrastructure, with a track record of providing high quality, reliable post-trade services to some of the world's leading financial institutions, we are adopting a collaborative approach wherever possible, working with third-party innovators in ways that reward their innovation while simultaneously giving us flexibility. The settlement of unallocated gold is a very capital-intensive process. We are working to develop a service to reduce risk and balance sheet constraints."

Paxos' management team is led by CEO and Co-founder Charles Cascarilla and its board of directors includes former FDIC chair Sheila Bair, former Senator Bill Bradley, former chair of the Financial Accounting Standards Board Robert Herz and former chairman, president & CEO of Lotus Development Corporation Jim Manzi.