ABN Amro is teaming up with Dutch university TU Delft to develop what it calls "more complex" blockchain applications that can deal with large amounts of data.
Based at TU Delft's blockchain lab, the project will build on the university's previous work in the area, which goes back to 2007.
Although details are scant, the partners say that they want to develop "next-generation blockchain technology that can deal reliably and appropriately with large amounts of data and large numbers of users" and aim to have built a working application, using dummy data, in six months.
All of the code developed will be open source and, as part of the partnership, ABN Amro staffers will also attend courses on blockchain applications in the TU Delft lab.
Arjan van Os, head, innovation centre, ABN Amro, says: "This offers us an excellent opportunity to expand our knowledge and gain a deeper understanding of the ways in which blockchain applications can be used. The fact that it is being approached from a scientific perspective makes it especially interesting."
ABN Amro has formed a 30-strong team to investigate the possible applications of blockchain technology across the bank. van Os and colleague Marjan van der Plas, ran through some potential use cases earlier this year on Finextra.