Financial services and banking giant State Street Corp. is exploring ways to get involved in settling payments on blockchain, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The Boston-based asset manager, which reported higher-than-expected revenue and interest income on Tuesday, is exploring creating its own stablecoin — a cryptocurrency that runs on a blockchain and is pegged to an asset such as the dollar. It’s also considering creating its own deposit token, which would represent customer deposits on a blockchain, according to the person, who asked for anonymity because the work hasn’t been made public. A State Street spokesperson declined to comment.
State Street is also evaluating joining digital-cash consortium efforts and is looking at settlement options through its investment in Fnality, a blockchain payment startup that’s expanding into the US, the person said. A spokesperson for the company declined to comment.
The crypto industry has long said that using blockchain — a digital ledger — can make payments move around the world faster and cheaper. A number of traditional financial companies have already stepped in to provide crypto settlement: PayPal introduced its own stablecoin last year, and card networks Visa and Mastercard already enable stablecoin-based settlement. US’s biggest bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co., is exploring deposit tokens.
