Goldman Sachs advocates for blockchain use in foreign exchange

Though the patent application was published on September 8th, 2016 by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), initially it was filed in March 2015. It outlines a distributed ledger that can process financial transactions in the foreign exchange market.

Goldman wants to combine the benefits of blockchain technology—speed and efficiency—with other technologies that offer privacy, security, and compliance with regulatory guidelines. The company’s version of the blockchain would enable private transactions only visible on a need-to-know basis. Also it permits regulators to access the database and adhere to anti-money laundering regulation (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) laws, which require that banks confirm the identity of their customers.

Lately, banks have been experimenting with blockchain technology to make transactions faster and cheaper, but most projects are still nascent. There are some fairly robust systems, like Bitcoin and Ripple where Bitcoin processes over 180,000 transactions a day. More than that, banks like UBS and Santander have been partnering with Ripple to adopt blockchain technology. But those systems have their drawbacks, according to the Goldman patent filing, especially in the highly regulated industry of financial services.