“Project Jasper”: From Bank Of Canada and Partners
Project Jasper is a blockchain platform that is being built by the Bank of Canada (BoC), TMX Group, Payments Canada, and Accenture.
John Lee, from TMX Group Andrew McCormack, from Payments Canada, Scott Hendry, from Bank of Canada and John Velissarios, Blockchain Technology & Security Lead, at Accenture all presented information about Project Jasper’s third phase at the Payments Canada Summit in Toronto.
Project Jasper is a pilot that the aforementioned collective team is working on to see if their blockchain platform is a widely used securities settlement system.
Phase three is primarily a phase of testing. The test is focused on blockchain technology’s ability to settle multiple assets on one ledger.
Project Jasper is explained by the BoC as …
“A COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH INITIATIVE BETWEEN THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS TO UNDERSTAND HOW DISTRIBUTED LEDGER TECHNOLOGY COULD TRANSFORM THE WHOLESALE PAYMENTS SYSTEM.”
BOC’s initial phases of testing with Project Jasper were unsuccessful and the system was deemed impractical at that time (due to a single point of failure).
Moving forward, Jasper represents the optimism that central banks have on blockchain technology with regards to its ability to disrupt an intermediary industry of cross-border settlements.
Carolyn Wilkins (deputy governor of BoC) stated:
“A BETTER SETTLEMENT PROCESS WOULD NOT ONLY REDUCE THE COST OF SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS BUT ALSO SUPPORT FINANCIAL SYSTEM RESILIENCY, ESPECIALLY IN PERIODS OF STRESS, THROUGH FASTER SETTLEMENT TIMES AND REDUCED SETTLEMENT RISK.”