Forex settlement and processing provider CLS has invested $5 million in R3, the venture that leads a blockchain consortium with over 80 companies as members. The parties told Reuters that CLS would get representation on R3’s board of directors.
According to an insider, the investment represents the third tranche of R3’s funding round. Singapore-based real estate group OUE and Japanese IT company TIS also took part in it, each contributing $5 million.
The first two tranches were conducted last year, when R3 raised $107 million from more than 40 financial and tech-oriented companies. Among the investors were corporate giants such as HSBC, Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), SBI Holdings, and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC).
New York-based CLS provides settlement solutions to over 60 forex market players, including financial behemoths such as Citigroup (NYSE:C) and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM). It has embraced the general trend that has seen financial companies invest heavily in blockchain to streamline processes and cut costs.
R3 CEO David Rutter commented on the deal as follows:
“CLS is critically important to the functioning of one of the most important markets in the world. It is absolutely right that major infrastructure players like this look to technologies such as blockchain to continue making their products and services faster, easier, safer and more cost-effective for the end user.”
R3 was set up about three years ago with the support of nine large investment banks. The startup has built a blockchain platform called Corda, which is being trialed by the consortium members. Last year, the company presented the new version of its platform.
Alan Marquard, CLS’s chief strategy and development officer, commented on the investment:
“We look forward to working in collaboration with other members to explore how CLS can provide transformative blockchain-based solutions.”
It is worth mentioning that several banking giants have left R3’s consortium despite its growth. Some of them are JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS).
This article appeared first on Cryptovest
