FedNow, the Federal Reserve’s upcoming instant payments system, freed The list of certified “early adopters” was announced on June 29th. Organizations on the list have been certified as ready to connect with the platform when it launches in late July. Although at least two blockchain networks have previously announced that they will be connected to the instant payment system, none appear on the list.
The FedNow service said some organizations not on the list may integrate at a later date, while Metal Blockchain said it still intends to connect with the platform once it secures an “appropriate banking sponsor.”
FedNow is an instant payments service being developed by the Federal Reserve. The Fed claims the service will allow instant transfers between U.S. banks, similar to Britain’s Faster Payments and Europe’s Single Euro Payments Area system.
Currently, bank transfers within the U.S. can only be made via ACH or wire transfer and are not settled instantly. FedNow is scheduled to launch in July.
At least two blockchain networks have announced that they will “connect” to FedNow when it launches. One of them is Metallicus’ metal blockchain. The Metallicus team said in May that its network would allow instant conversion of cash into stablecoins through a connection to FedNow. At the time, FedNow’s official website also included Metallicus in its “Service Provider Showcase,” further evidence that an integration was imminent.
The listing was removed within days of the announcement. On May 15, Twitter user JeffXRP commented Something odd about it being removed all of a sudden.
The list of “service providers” announced on June 29 included 11 payment providers including ACI Worldwide, ECS Fin, FPS Gold, and Open Payment Network, but Metallicus and Metal Blockchain were not on the list.
In a conversation with Cointelegraph, Metallicus co-founder and CEO Marshall Hayner claimed that the company still intends to integrate Metal Blockchain with FedNow once it secures appropriate bank sponsorship, saying:
“Metallicus is currently in communication with the Federal Reserve and the FedNow program administrators while we search for suitable bank sponsors and continue to focus on building out our bankchain technology.”
Another blockchain network that has announced an integration with FedNow is Tassat, the creator of the TassatPay service and digital interbank network. Tassat claims its network is a business-to-business private blockchain for commercial banks. In March, the company announced that it would connect its digital B2B payments platform to its upcoming FedNow service.
As of June 30, Tassat was listed on the FedNow website in the Service Provider Showcase.
However, Tassat was not listed as a certified service provider in the June 30 “early adopters” list. Cointelegraph reached out to the Tassat team via email but had not heard back by press time.
In the announcement, the Fed explained that some organizations not on the list may become service providers in the future:
“In addition to initial adopters, the Federal Reserve will continue to work with financial institutions and service providers that plan to join later in 2023 and beyond as the first step in developing a robust network designed to reach all 10,000 U.S. financial institutions. step.”
FedNow has been criticized by some blockchain users as a step towards a central bank digital currency (CBDC). US presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed that this would lead to “financial slavery”. In April, the Federal Reserve issued a statement deny FedNow is related to CBDC.
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