Colombian Central Bank to Test R3 Distributed Ledger Software

Banco de la República Colombia, the South American nation's central bank, has made an agreement with software company R3 to test its distributed ledger technology, Corda, a press release announced today.

With the news, Banco de la República Colombia becomes the latest member to join the more than 80 financial institutions worldwide that are today part of the consortium. Already, R3 has completed tests with the Monetary Authority of Singapore, though both institutions are arguably now emerging as key early adopters of distributed ledger tech.

Launched in 2015, Corda is an open-source distributed ledger for financial technology, developed by New-York based startup R3.

The news also coincides with a push by R3 to diversify its membership by adding financial regulators and government agencies to the group. Revealed as key to its strategy in May, CEO David Rutter at the time said broader buy-in is needed to expand R3's existing tests.

"Ultimately, our goal is to have the regulators involved from the start, right from the design through the experiment and the pilot and the prototyping," he said.

Though not the nation's financial regulator, Banco de la Republica Colombia is nonetheless backed by the government, which could lead to more widespread support.

Still, in its statements, the organization was short on details on what might be ahead.

Banco de la República Colombia responded: "It is in our interest to evaluate the benefits of this technology for the safe and efficient management of the exchange of securities in the Colombian financial system."

Colombian peso image via Shutterstock