Earlier this week, the largest Japanese financial group, Mitsubishi UFJ (MUFG), publicized the fact of beginning to collaborate with Akamai Technologies to create a joint venture. The two firms plan to launch their blockchain-based payment service within the first two quarters of next year.
MUFG’s new brainchild
The service is dubbed the Global Open Network, and the developers claim it will be able to conduct about a million TPS (transactions per second). Besides, Mitsubishi plans to make the new product compatible with the Internet of Things (IoT) and combine it with the cloud platform powered by Akamai.
Investments are shared
The new platform will start off with $2.26 mln in capital. Of this amount, 80 percent was provided by Mitsubishi UFJ and the rest – by Akamai Technologies.
The platform was first meant to launch in May 2018. Back then, Akamai promised it would offer customers not only funds transfer services but also micropayments, pay-per-use and other services, as well as IoT-based financial transactions.
MUFG’s interest in blockchain
The financial giant became keen on blockchain much earlier than the aforementioned project. In autumn last year, Mitsubishi took part in a project through which a loan of $150 mln was put on the blockchain. Other participants were the major Spanish bank BBVA and BNP Paribas from France.
MUFG also intended to create its own virtual token dubbed MUFG coin back in 2016 when it was studying blockchain for the first time.
Tomiwabold Olajide
Godfrey Benjamin
Arman Shirinyan
