Calastone has officially moved its services to a blockchain-based network

Mutual funds’ transaction network Calastone has taken its services and put them on a blockchain-based network. According to a company press release, this system is called the Distributed Market Infrastructure (DMI).

A long time coming

“The technology underpinning Calastone’s network has now been migrated to a blockchain-enabled market infrastructure,” reads the post. Moreover, this marks over 1,800 customers across dozens of markets now using the blockchain for online trading. The company calls this a “world-first” and a move that “represents the largest community of global financial services organisations connecting and transacting via distributed ledger technology.”

This project has been in development at Calastone for two years, however. Now, that dream has become a reality. As of now, the group is working towards “digitalisation and friction-free trading” across the world. Moreover, it doesn’t matter who or where. Any platform that handles mutual funds can utilize the DMI for the “trading, settlement, and servicing of funds” – all in real-time.

Commenting on the innovation is Calastone’s Chief Innovation Officer:

“Developing the DMI has been a fulfilling journey of innovation and it is incredibly exciting to have completed a world first for the financial services sector. Over 1,800 clients across 41 markets are now transacting on the DMI, transforming how fund organisations interact with one another.

Through Calastone’s blockchain-enabled market infrastructure all participants across the fund’s world can work together seamlessly and view trading activity in real-time. Information now ripples instantly across the market, a step change from the previous, fragmented model. Financial services firms worldwide can, via the DMI, utilise new services, enhanced capabilities and new investment opportunities, allowing them to evolve their proposition to one that will be more competitive and valuable long-term.”

Working from the start

Additionally, this launch “immediately solves several key points of friction” traditionally seen on these types of platform. That and the DMI will also bring with the Sub-Register. This is a “real-time view and history of the registers between trading partners at any point in the distribution chain.”

Some early adopters include Bravura Solutions and Seven Investment Management, among others. However, we’ll have to see if their testing ensured this will be a reliable day trading platform.