International Bank Blockchain Gaining Participants; UK Report Skeptical of Crypto, Blockchain

More than 70 banks, including JPMorgan, have joined a blockchain designed to speed up payments and head off competitors in the payments sector, the Financial Times reports.
Large international banks have been testing the Interbank Information Network (IIN) to see if blockchain technology can speed up payments that are not run of the mill, according to the report, with the hope that banks would be able to quickly resolve issues such as compliance and faulty or missing data. The FT report said the banks expect to put about $14,500 in payments a day through the network. 

Meanwhile, a recent report from the UK House of Commons Treasury Committee examines the role and risks of digital currencies in the UK, the potential impact of blockchain on financial institutions and financial infrastructure, and evaluates the regulatory response from the UK government, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England. The Treasury Committee remains skeptical about these emerging technologies and their capabilities. The report enumerates the risks of crypto assets and sees the absence of regulation as “particularly problematic” and recommended that the FCA be granted the necessary legal powers to regulate crypto-assets.The report is cautious on blockchain applications saying: “although small scale uses for blockchain may exist—the Committee has not been presented with any evidence to suggest that universal applications of the technology are currently reliably operational.”