Quant Opens Blockchain Infrastructure Platform to Businesses

Blockchain-for-finance firm Quant has opened its infrastructure platform to business customers.

The company’s Overledger Platform — used in the Bank of England and Bank for International Settlements’ retail central bank digital currency (CDBC) project — is now available via software-as-a-service (SaaS), Quant said in a news release provided to PYMNTS Monday (June 26).

“Until now, businesses have struggled to capitalize on the benefits provided by blockchain because it’s a complex technology requiring specialist skills,” said Martin Hargreaves, Quant’s chief product officer. “Overledger Platform changes all that. It’s simple to use, continually updated, and integrates seamlessly with your existing systems. That’s how it unlocks the power of blockchain for everyone.”

According to the release, Overledger is a low code SaaS that lets customers issue digital money and interoperable assets with a few clicks, transfer them from one blockchain network to another, and create new apps that will run on any network.

The company says Overledger can let developers do in minutes what could otherwise be months-long projects.

“The launch of Overledger Platform comes at a critical time for the financial services industry,” Quant said in the news release. “Although the unregulated crypto experiment has failed, blockchain-based infrastructure and systems, regulated tokenized money and digital assets are still central to innovation.”

Earlier this month, PYMNTS interviewed Aaron Sears of Ripple about the potential for blockchain to transform financial services.

He noted that cross-border payments powered by blockchain and cryptocurrencies can be made on demand and around the clock. He added that interoperability between payments systems offers more visibility into growing international operations, while helping ensure compliance controls and B2B experience standards are met.

“When you’re talking about more complex corridors where a payment might need to go through multiple correspondent banks before landing in its destination market, [the benefits of crypto] are obvious,” Sears said.

PYMNTS also spoke with Hargreaves earlier this year, as he noted the damage that restrictive measures on money movement can have on CBDC adoption and usage.

“When you start to place restrictions on money, you affect its value. So, if I’ve got £100 but I can only spend it on rent or groceries, that’s not worth the same to me as £100 that I can spend on anything,” Hargreaves told PYMNTS.

He added that towing that line will hurt any digital currency and undermine what governments are trying to achieve.

“I can’t see that being a national policy anywhere because there are too many drawbacks to it.”