By David Shares,
Luxembourg-based blockchain company Scorechain has announced a new initiative, comprising ten organizations, to explore blockchain technology benefits for the local fund industry.
Scorechain first entered the Bitcoin space in 2014, launching the bitcoin wallet Yallet. Then in 2015 the company raised a $570,000 seed round, aiming to provide compliance and regulatory solutions in a CRM product suite, including blockchain analysis.
The Fundchain Initiative
For its new Fundchain initiative, the company formed partnerships with ten key financial firms to research blockchain and how it can benefit the asset management industry.
Scorechain’s announcement said the ten founding members are: BIL, BNP Paribas, CACEIS, European Fund Administration, HSBC, ING Luxembourg, Pictet, RBC Investor & Treasury Services, Société Générale Bank & Trust, and PwC Luxembourg.
Furthermore, it describes Fundchain as an exploration of how “Distributed Ledger Technology may help the fund industry improve efficiency and create new business opportunities.” It adds that “Blockchain technology could be a game-changer in this highly-regulated ecosystem where several intermediaries interact with each other through huge manual processes prone to human error.” With blockchain, there is an opportunity to remove intermediaries in the funds distribution process, reducing costs.
Bridging the Gap for Financial Institutions
HSBC, a major partner, says Fundchain allows it to provide key insights into how blockchain technology can help craft solutions for fintech. Nick Maton, Head of HSBC Securities in Luxembourg said:
“Our participation in Fundchain allows HSBC to provide genuine thought leadership into developing solutions for clients by embracing new technology which in turn can be used to mitigate risk and improve efficiency. Working collaboratively allows us to jointly define solutions that are built by the industry for the industry.”
PwC, which has also formed strategic partnerships with companies including Blockstream, said they “strongly believe that Blockchain technology could enable the asset management industry to work more efficiently, more transparently and in a collaborative mode.”
Scorechain’s Blockchain Analysis
Scorechain is in a unique position to provide new and innovative tools including blockchain analytics, otherwise known as blockchain intelligence.
For two years, the company mined data using their own proprietary bitcoin wallet Yallet. In addition, they scour the web for public information as part of their intelligence gathering.
Blockchain privacy has always been a hot topic. Many constantly debate its importance and how to retain privacy on an open and transparent ledger. With this new foray, the potential to also expand intelligence into financial funds’ distribution is notable.
Scorechain CEO Pierre Gérard said, “We aim to move beyond slideware and begin developing prototypes to test their integration within existing infrastructures. We have already identified several use cases in the fund distribution and asset servicing industry that could be interesting topics.”