MUFG Building Blockchain Proof-of-Concept for Promissory Notes

By Stan Higgins for Coindesk

Blockchain startup Chain has inked a new deal with Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (MUFG), a partnership that will initially see the two firms working on a blockchain proof-of-concept focused on the exchange of promissory notes. A promissory note is an agreement under which one party promises to pay another at a certain date and time (or on demand) at a specified price. Chain and MUFG will work on a platform for the digitized exchange of promissory notes

Chain said in a blog post detailing the partnership:

“The platform simulates an environment where businesses instantly and securely issue, transfer, sell and redeem promissory notes in a natively digital medium, with lower costs and risks for counterparties over traditional methods. The solution is designed to give businesses the privacy and confidentiality they require, while at the same time providing transparency to regulators and auditors.”

MUFG, one of a number of global banks working as part of the R3CEV-led blockchain consortium, has been conducting internal tests of the technology for some time.

Past uses cases include peer-to-peer transfer and remittances.

“We are pleased to be working with Chain to explore the application of next-generation financial infrastructure that we believe could significantly enhance the experience for our clients,” Satoshi Murabayashi, MUFG’s CIO for digital, said in a statement.

Chain raised $30m in a Series A round last fall from a number of major financial including Capital One, Fiserv and Visa, and has developed a private blockchain securities market platform, dubbed Linq, in partnership with global stock market operator Nasdaq. The firm used Linq late last year to issue shares to a private investor.

In announcing the MUFG partnership, Chain suggested that it could work with the financial group on similar projects, indicating that it would focus on issues related to “market infrastructure”, in addition to other areas.

Image Credit: TK Kurikawa / Shutterstock.com

First appeared in Coindesk