Securitize To Join IBM's Blockchain Accelerator To Modernize $82T Corporate Debt Market

Securitize, a compliance platform and protocol for digitizing securities on the blockchain, has revealed that it's one of 10 companies to join the IBM Blockchain Accelerator program.

Speaking of the announcement, Carlos Domingo, co-founder and CEO of Securitize, said that their "goal is to build the world's first debt issuance platform with blockchain technology in 2019." "With the aid of IBM, we hope to modernize the $82 trillion dollar corporate debt market - which is currently riddled with inefficiencies and high fees - with blockchain technology, he added.

The program is to last three months and will include a Blockchain Architecture workshop, in addition to the opportunity to work with the IBM team and external mentors, Domingo explained. At the end of the program, Securitize will present a demonstration of their platform, explaining what they want to build for potential customers, including internal IBM teams.

Domingo noted that they are planning to integrate Hyperledger into the product design of their platform, which will enable debt issuance on the blockchain.

Hyperledger is an open source collaborative effort hosted by The Linux Foundation that has been created to advance cross-industry blockchain technologies. Some of its members include Airbus, American Express, Cisco, Citi, Deloitte, Deutsche Bank, Huawei, IBM, JPMorgan, PwC, Ripple and Tencent to name a few.

With the use of Securitize's Digital Securities (DS) protocol, it's aiming to provide automated compliance to a private share that can then be traded. With the aid of the blockchain, the platform is hoping to deliver a modern solution for the finance industry. At present, ensuring compliance for a private share can often take weeks or months, Domingo stated.