Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas Lead Funding Round for Fnality
A new funding round for Fnality, a blockchain-based wholesale payments firm backed by Nomura Group, has been led by global investment bank Goldman Sachs and French universal bank BNP Paribas. The company raised 77.7 million British pounds ($95.09 million) in this second round of funding, with participation from settlement houses like Euroclear and Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation, as well as the global exchange-traded fund firm WisdomTree and Fnality’s existing investor Nomura.
Fnality also saw additional investment from initial round backers Banco Santander, BNY Mellon, Barclays, CIBC, Commerzbank, ING, Lloyds Banking Group, Nasdaq Ventures, State Street, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and UBS. This new capital will be used to set up a global liquidity management network for digital payment models in wholesale financial markets and tokenized asset markets.
Fnality plans to launch the Sterling Fnality Payment System in 2023 pending approval by the Bank of England. The blockchain tech application allows institutions to use central bank funds across potential use cases such as cross-border payments and security transactions.
The Origin of Fnality
Fnality was founded in 2019 as a UBS-led blockchain project aiming to build digital versions of major currencies for wholesale payments and transactions involving digital securities. The firm was initially launched under the Utility Settlement Coin (USC) project to tokenize fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar or the euro on an Ethereum-based blockchain.
Other global banks like JPMorgan have also been exploring blockchain and tokenization. JPMorgan recently launched a new programmable payment feature on its JPM Coin platform targeting institutional investors.
Hot Take
The funding round led by Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas demonstrates a growing interest from major financial institutions in blockchain-based solutions for wholesale payments. This investment will likely drive further innovation in the industry and accelerate the development of new digital payment models.
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