The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) says its distributed ledger technology-based alternative settlement platform has gone live in a parallel production environment.
The Project Ion platform is now parallel processing an average of over 100,000 bilateral equity transactions per day, with DTCC subsidiary, The Depository Trust Company’s, classic settlement systems remaining the authoritative record.
Using R3's Corda as its underlying DLT technology, the private, permissioned platform was developed in collaboration with a host of major market participant and technology providers, including BNY Mellon, Citi, Fidelity Investments, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, and Robinhood Securities.
The DTCC says it will provide a resilient, secure and scalable alternative settlement service to clients, with the option to leverage DLT for those firms that wish to take advantage of the emerging technology.
With the production parallel now live, DTCC is working with clients on a phased expansion of the platform. Future enhancements may include additional DTC activities and capabilities as well as the expansion of Project Ion to DTCC subsidiary National Securities Clearing Corporation.
Murray Pozmanter, MD, president, DTCC clearing agency services and head of global business operations, says: “Project Ion is an important step forward in advancing digitalization in financial markets and opens the door to exciting, new opportunities to drive greater efficiencies, risk management and cost savings for the industry.
"Digitized assets and emerging technology like DLT are shaping and evolving the financial services landscape, and we remain committed to advancing innovative solutions that capitalize on opportunities, deliver new value and drive the industry forward.”