Tech firm Kynetix seeks to build commodity blockchain alliance

     Post-trade technology services firm Kynetix is ​​seeking to build a consortium of commodity market stakeholders to explore the collaborative uses of blockchain technology.

     Kynetix announced today that it has so far assembled a “coalition of 15 commodity exchanges, investment banks, clearing firms, and brokerage firms,” though it declined to name the participating companies.

     While the company has remained silent on the matter, Kynetix said the project is part of a larger effort with distributed ledger startup R3, which has teamed up with 30 major banks for a similar initiative.

     In an interview, Guillaume Kendall, the UK firm’s head of business development, sought to argue that its services are uniquely positioned between “the real economy and financial markets,” making it an ideal candidate to lead the conversation.

Kendall told CoinDesk:

     “Our software is focused on the post-trade elements of the commodity trading lifecycle – specifically addressing industry challenges for settlement, physical delivery, inventory, collateral and title transfer. We need to be clear about the potential use cases for blockchain technology in other areas as well.

     Kendall said the alliance aims to investigate the benefits blockchain technology brings to the process and explore a “key role” it could play in collaborative solutions.

     He sees the effort as complementary to R3, positioning the comparison as an affirmation of the group’s “significant momentum” in bringing together traditional finance stakeholders.

     When asked for comment, Kynetix’s public partners including the London Metals Exchange, Stonehage and UBS declined to comment on their involvement in the initiative. Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) said it was not involved in the project.

     Kynetix said the consortium’s first meeting will take place tomorrow, November 25, in London.