Global investment bank Goldman Sachs and French-based BNP Paribas are leading a new funding round for Fnality, a wholesale payment company powered by blockchain infrastructure supported by Nomura Group. According to Reuters, Fnality raised £77.7 million ($95.09 million) in its second funding round, which was announced on November 13th.
What Happened in the Funding Round?
Goldman and BNP Paribas led the investment round, with participation from industry-leading institutions such as Euroclear and Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation. Other investors in the funding round include global exchange-traded fund firm WisdomTree and Nomura, Fnality’s existing investor.
In addition, the project received additional investments from Banco Santander, BNY Mellon, Barclays, CIBC, Commerzbank, ING, Lloyds Banking Group, Nasdaq Ventures, State Street, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and UBS, who were previously announced as first-round supporters. UBS and other global banks invested £55 million ($63.2 million) in Fnality in June 2019, aiming to launch a blockchain-based commercial payment platform in this field.
Noteworthy Details about Fnality
According to Fnality officials, the new capital will be used to establish a 24-hour global liquidity management network for wholesale financial markets and emerging tokenized asset markets for new crypto payment models. With this increase, the target is to launch the Sterling Fnality Payment System by the end of 2023, subject to approval from the Bank of England officials.
Mathew McDermott, Goldman’s global head of digital assets, stated that Fnality’s blockchain technology application enables institutions to use central bank funds in numerous potential use cases. These transactions include cross-border payments, inter-currency payments, collateral mobility, and security transactions.
Fnality was founded in 2019 as a blockchain project led by UBS, aiming to create digital versions of major currencies for transactions involving corporate payments and crypto securities. The company was initially focused on tokenizing fiat currencies such as the US dollar or euro on the Ethereum ecosystem, under the Utility Settlement Coin (USC) project.
