we.trade confirmed that the first live trades have taken place on the platform. Over the last five days, 10 companies have executed trades via four banks, signifying the “first commercially viable open account trades using blockchain technology” according to a company statement. Many banks and companies are looking for a more efficient and cost-effective way to trade internationally. we.trade is built on the IBM Blockchain Platform powered by Hyperledger Fabric, and uses smart contracts.
we.trade was established by Deutsche Bank, HSBC, KBC, Natixis, Nordea, Rabobank, Santander, Societe Generale and UniCredit to address the expectations of their customers to make cross-border trade more straightforward. The consortium has succeeded in meeting each bank’s internal governance and procedures requirements to make this innovation a reality. At present we.trade is available across eleven European countries: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the UK. we.trade expects to expand into additional markets in Europe and globally as further banking partners come on board.
Hubert Benoot, head of trade at KBC and we.trade board chair said in a statement: “Not only has we.trade built a technical solution, it has also managed to create real collaboration across multiple banks and increased the connectivity of the trade ecosystem. This really is collaboration at its finest.” The next step will be getting buy-in from additional banks and their customers in Europe and further afield, said Roberto Mancone, Chief Operating Officer, we.trade in a statement.