Digital Asset announced that it will open source its smart contract language DAML, a new helper for smart contract development

Digital Asset Holding has announced its intention to open-source DAML, a smart contract language it acquired from startup Elevence earlier this year.

Although a specific open source date has not yet been set, the blockchain startup led by Blythe Master will promote "industry adoption" of blockchain technology as the motivation for their move.

However, Digital Asset said it still needs to increase DAML functionality and reference material so that the language is ready for use outside the company.

The company said:

“By expanding the use of DAML, we intend to enable customers, partners, and other vendors to develop, modify, and augment DAML libraries for use on the Digital Asset Platform or beyond, fostering a vibrant ecosystem of vendors and solutions.”

Additionally, Digital Asset alluded to the failure of The DAO, a smart contract created using Ethereum’s Solidity language, asserting that currently available tools do not meet the needs of businesses or industries.

Digital Asset’s open-source initiative comes at a time when financial institutions and startups are making a big push to explore and develop new smart contract languages.

Just this month, Barclays revealed that they are working on a smart contract language with University College London, while startups like Legalese have received funding to continue developing new smart contract language alternatives.