Bitcoin, Ethereum and other altcoins have sparked a range of investments, industries and even emotions. However, there is a fast-growing array of digital currencies and electronic payment systems that are focused specifically on leveraging distributed ledger technologies to make fundamental financial transactions easier, faster and more accessible both at the wholesale and retail level. As this recently released ebook details, central banks around the world are exploring ways to leverage different Hyperledger DLTs to introduce Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). However, there is #HyperledgerPayments action happening on a number of fronts and leveraging a mix of Hyperledger technologies.
Below, we highlight a few of the Hyperledger-based applications that are already in the market, rewriting the rules for how money and value are delivered, stored and spent. This sampling showcases the global reach of both Hyperledger technologies and blockchain payment systems:
Bakong
Sponsored by the National Bank of Cambodia, the country’s central bank, Bakong is the first retail payments system in the world using blockchain technology. Built on Hyperledger Iroha, Bakong delivers value for customers, merchants and banks. Individuals can now transfer money and buy from merchants with a simple smartphone app. Merchants gain a fast, cashless, and secure payments system. And banks can do interbank transfers at much lower cost.
Bakong was developed by Soramitsu and, after a soft launch in 2019, now has nearly 40 financial institutions (and counting) using the system. The project was also designed to promote financial inclusion for the country’s large number of unbanked citizens. Any citizen of the country can open a Bakong account, even if they don’t have a traditional bank account. The more than 500 merchants that accept Bakong can be viewed in a map inside
Byacco
Soramitsu also created a local payment system for the University of Aizu, Japan, based on Hyperledger Iroha – technology that was originally developed within the walls of the University. Byacco is an app that students use to add and access digital money to pay local goods and services, split bills at the university cafeteria and stationary shop and send and receive money with a low (1 ¥) fee.
Kate Coin
KBC bank in Belgium has introduced blockchain-based Kate Coin to customers using its KBC Mobile app. Powered by Hyperledger Fabric, Kate Coins are issued to customers as loyalty rewards. To start, the Kate Coins can be used to pay for banking and insurance services. However, the goal is to scale up its use through partnerships with business customers and other third parties that want to reach KBC Mobile app users, first in Belgium and then across the HBC group.
Twig
To help drive the circular economy, UK-based Twig has created a system that allows consumers to turn their pre-owned electronics, clothes and other goods into cash. Users are paid for their goods via Hyperledger Sawtooth-based Twig Pay, where they can see incoming payments and tap into the cash for purchases and transfers.
Join the conversation about solutions and applications in the financial service market with #HyperledgerPayments on social channels. For a deeper dive, join us at Hyperledger Global Forum 2022, September 12-14 in Dublin, Ireland. Sessions will include:
A Hyperledger Fabric-based Programmable Money Platform – Robert van Donge, IntellectEU & Dirk Hermans, KBC Group
Hosted Discussion: Private Credit on Blockchain – Anshuman Asthana, Marketnode
Saudi Aramco, Procure to Pay Eco-System – Ali Safri, Avanza Innovations & Abdullah M Askari, Saudi Aramco
US Digital Currency: Opportunities, Challenges and Strategies – Jim Mason, DTCC
Hands-on-Workshop: Moving Central Bank Digital Currency from Conception to Reality with Hyperledger Technologies – Elli Androulaki & Angelo De Caro, IBM
Cover photo by mohamed_hassan from PxHere
