HSBC Processed $250 Billion in Forex through its Blockchain Arm in 2018
As the blockchain technology continues to grow, more and more financial institutions have services and offerings powered by the trendy model. That is the case of global banking giant HSBC.
The British bank announced on Monday, January 14th that it settled around $250 billion of forex trades through blockchain technology in the year that just ended; an impressive amount that serves as proof of the approach’s growth.
The information was provided by HSBC via a press release quoted and published by the Financial Times. The European bank managed a whopping 3 million transactions thanks to its proprietary blockchain platform, known as “FX Everywhere.”
Forex Trading: The World’s Leading Market
For reference, forex trading, commonly known as the foreign exchange market, is the activity of trading cryptocurrencies. Forex or FX is a global, decentralized, or over the counter (OTC) market for that end. It is the largest market in the planet judging by trading volume, comfortably surpassing the Credit market.
The FX Everywhere tool let the financial institution “conduct thousands of foreign exchange transactions within the bank, across multiple balance sheets, in dozens of countries,” according to Richard Bibbey, who acts as the Head of Foreign Exchange Cash Trading & Risk Management at HSBC .
When news agency Reuters asked Bibbey about the overall payments volume handled by HSBC in 2018, he stated that the $250 billion only accounted for a small percentage of the total. The press release did not reveal the exact number.
“FX Everywhere uses distributed ledger technology to drastically increase the efficiency of these internal flows.” The numbers speak for themselves, as they demonstrate the endless possibilities implementing blockchain technology in the banking industry.
Huge Interest in Blockchain Affairs
HSBC, one of the largest banks in Europe and the whole world, is known for experimenting with blockchain in the recent past. One of the projects it took was the launch of a joint trade finance platform located in Hong Kong.
The enterprise is evidently a pro-blockchain company. For example, its Global Innovation Lead for Global Liquidity & Cash Management, Craig Ramsey, took advantage of the stage at the Money20/20 conference in Las Vegas held in October to proclaim blockchain and cryptocurrency as representing a “real challenge” to interbank settlements.
A little Bit more about HSBC
HSBC is a British institution, functioning as a multinational bank and financial services holding firm. Totalling approximately $2.374 trillion as of the end of 2016, it is widely recognized as the largest European bank and comfortably in the top ten at a global scale.
The bank is present in numerous places: there are 3,900 commercial offices in 67 nations around the world, including Africa, Oceania, Europe, Asia, North, and South America. The number of HSBC customers approaches 40 million. Forbes stated in 2014 that HSBC was the sixth most prominent public company.
Among HSBC’s services are retail banking, corporate banking, investment banking, mortgage loans, private banking, wealth management, credit cards, finance and insurance.
By Andres Chavez