Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas Lead $ 95 Million Raise for Blockchain-Based Payments Startup Fnality

Summary:
• The latest funding round by Fnality signals rising institutional interest in using digitised central bank currencies for payment processing.

Fnality International, a UK-based startup developing innovative blockchain-based solutions for wholesale payments has raised approximately $95 million in a Series B financing headed by Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas. The Series B funding round also saw participation from BNY Mellon, Barclays, Nasdaq Ventures, UBS, Banco Santander, DTCC, Euroclear, Nomura, and WisdomTree among other investors.

Using blockchain tech to transform wholesale payments

The latest capital injection brings to $163 million the amount raised by the company since it launched in 2019. This signifies investor confidence in Fnality’s mission of enhancing efficiency in institutional payments using digital versions of major currencies. These can then be used to settle wholesale payments and transactions involving digital securities.

Notably many central banks have initiated feasibility studies around Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDCs). However, the rollout seems to be slow. Nonetheless, Fnality’s successful Series B funding round shows that leading financial institutions in the world have the desire for the kind of efficiency that could result from blockchain-based central bank settlement solutions. Furthermore, many institutions agree that this could be the panacea for bridging the gap between traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi) in wholesale markets.

Fnality’s payment settlements platform employs blockchain technology which provides secure means via which institutions may make use of federal reserve monies in a variety of contexts. In order to implement DvP in wholesale banking with shared ledgers, cash must be brought on chain. Instantaneous global payments in any currency, mobility of collateral, and security transactions are some of the use cases that have been lined up.

At inception, the company launched the Utility Settlement Coin (USC) Project to facilitate the settlement of tokenized transactions between peers. Ultimately, the program aims goal is to create a more streamlined approach to managing cash in many currencies.  Fnality intends to use the newly raised funds to refine and roll out its blockchain-based payment system. Fnality’s initial release will focus on a British pound edition supporting GBP, USD, EUR, CAD, and JPY.