UK foreign exchange firm Caxton will use Microsoft’s cloud platform to offer faster, cheaper and more secure banking via blockchain technology.
The private blockchain system will run on Azure and give users direct access to preferential banking rates, while cutting their service costs.
The move is expected to be particularly beneficial for e-commerce businesses looking to make payments in multiple currencies, app developers who need a regulated partner to handle transactions, or banks that need a simple, multicurrency platform.
“This offer will be particularly exciting for our clients’ CTOs,” said Caxton chief technology officer Russell Stather. “This technology strips out the need for an application programming interface, meaning everything is under their control. There’s no need for them to waste time and money, installing and maintaining an API.”
Caxton’s solution comes just weeks after Microsoft spelled out its vision for the future of blockchain at an event in London. The company told the Blockchain Expo that the cloud is the best way to use the technology and it is working on an ecosystem to support it, codenamed Project Bletchley.
Project Bletchley is “blockchain 3.0 while most people are in blockchain 2.0,” Microsoft Cloud architect Thomas Conte said at the conference. He pointed to Microsoft’s use of “cryptlets” – secure software that interacts with the blockchain – its development of a trusted marketplace for smart contracts – which no one can alter after deployment – and Azure Key Vault – which allows people to encrypt passwords.