BlackRock has become the latest major institution to join the blockchain distributed ledger network by Axoni, Veris, for equity swaps trading.
The asset manager will leverage the software through an integration of its flagship Aladdin platform, with further integration plans expected later.
Axoni’s platform allows all relevant parties involved in a trade to match and confirm trade terms and synchronise on post-trade processes.
It also uses the open-source, standardised model for derivative trade processing, the ISDA Common Domain Model (CDM).
“Today’s announcement is a significant milestone and the culmination of years of collaborative industry research, design, and development,” said Mark Cox, chief operating officer of global investment operations at BlackRock.
“The Axoni platform will help us build scalability while mitigating risks in the investment life cycle beginning with equity swaps. We see great potential in a distributed ledger network for uncleared derivatives as we continue to prove out this new area of innovation.”
The development builds on an existing partnership between BlackRock and Axoni, where the latter has continued to receive support from major institutions in the last few years from the likes of Citi and Goldman Sachs.
The technology provider also raised $31 million in a funding round from new investors Deutsche Bank, UBS, and Intel Capital in February earlier this year.
“BlackRock joining the Axoni network represents an important step in the evolution of market infrastructure and is a direct result of the strategic partnership between our firms,” said Brian Steele, global head of market solutions at Goldman Sachs.