The DTCC and R3 have moved into "parallel production" with project Ion. The "DLT-based" platform provides bi-lateral equity settlement for some of the US's largest banks and financial institutions.
This is quietly massive for several reasons.
1. The DTCC doesn't do things by accident; they've implemented this because they and the FIs are getting major cost and risk management benefits, meaning the business case is real.
2. R3 has quietly built a business that consistently wins the big projects in CBDC and the financial market structure. 3.
3. R3 also has some super thoughtful architecture in Corda that is "forwardly compatible" with Crypto assets and digitally native tokens. If we move to a world where equities become tokens, R3 and the DTCC will be a big part of making that happen.
Good morning. Hedge funds have lined up the biggest bet against Italian government bonds since the global #financialcrisis on concerns over political turmoil in Rome and the country’s dependence on Russian #gas imports.
The total value of Italy’s bonds borrowed by investors to wager on a fall in prices hit its highest level since January 2008 this month, at more than €39bn, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
The rush to wager against Italy comes as the country faces rising economic headwinds from surging European natural gas prices prompted by Russia’s supply cuts and a fraught political climate, with elections looming in September.