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R3 Files Patent for its Banking Blockchain Technology

Last Updated March 4, 2021 4:50 PM
Samburaj Das
Last Updated March 4, 2021 4:50 PM

Editor’s Note: A spokesperson for R3 reached out to CCN.com to clarify content from the WSJ article. The patent applied for by R3 is for its software Corda, not Concord, as reported earlier. The article has been edited.

R3, the blockchain startup leading the banking blockchain consortium consisting of over 60 of the world’s leading banks has reportedly filed a patent for its distributed technology.

A report by The Wall Street Journal  has revealed that New York-based startup R3 CEV filed for a patent for its software, Corda, on Tuesday this week.

The patent is said to be the first filed by the largely nontransparent startup, which has gained a reputation as arguably the most publicized private blockchain endeavor in the industry.

Unlike a public blockchain, the Concord platform will be a close-ended private distributed ledger that will only see participation among its approved members. Furthermore, while every transaction with Bitcoin and Ethereum is recorded and publicly disclosed to the public, transactions within the Concord platform can only be viewed by the trusted parties involved in the platform.

The other notable difference between Concord and prominent public ledgers such as the Bitcoin blockchain and the Ethereum blockchain is the lack of a digital token or cryptocurrency, with Concord.

The WSJ report adds that the name ‘Concord’ was specifically chosen for the harmony that R3 hopes to bring and build among its partner banks, many of whom are the world’s largest.

Writing in a blog, R3 Chief Technology Officer Richard G Brown added:

Project Concord is our codename for the overall vision, with Corda as our underlying distributed ledger software.

R3 first announced Corda via a whitepaper in April 2016, as a blockchain solution to improve the existing financial services infrastructure.

The WSJ report also compared Concord with Ethereum , noting their similarities in the way in which developers will be able to build their own applications over the platform layer. Concord will also support smart contracts, like the Ethereum blockchain.

An early version of Concord will reportedly be released within the next few months, with a select group of banks testing the platform come early 2017. A more robust alpha version is expected to follow by mid-2017.

A spokesperson for R3 wasn’t immediately available for comment at the time of publishing.

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