India’s Central Bank to Pilot Blockchain-Based Trade Financing: Report

India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is looking to run a blockchain-based pilot project centered on trade financing, alongside multiple top Indian banks. Top Indian Banks Team Up With RBI on Blockchain Pilot Project According to a report from the Economic Times, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has tapped top Indian banks including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and State Bank of India to run a blockchain-based pilot project focused on trade financing. Other Indian banks such as Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda, and Union Bank of India are also involved. Dubbed ‘proof of concept’, the pilot project will implement blockchain technology to enhance the traceability of finances. It also aims to prevent the tampering of documents like Letters of Credits (LC) by issuing their digital versions. Digital documents could prevent frauds like the ones committed by Indian businessmen like Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, who siphoned off billions with fake documents. SettleMint, Corda, and IBM to Provide Tech Support Belgium-based SettleMint, US-based Corda Technologies, and IBM would provide technical support for the project driven by the central bank’s Innovation Hub in Bangalore. The objective behind the project is to make blockchain technology a part of the Core Banking System (CBS), according to the report. Interestingly, the Reserve Bank of India is likely to use the same technology for the proposed central bank digital currency project...