Fireblocks Strengthens Support for Banking & Financial Institutions
Terrill Dicki Jun 27, 2023 07:43
Fireblocks, a leading enterprise platform for managing digital asset operations and fostering blockchain-based innovations, has announced the expansion of its secure MPC-CMP wallet and key management technology.
Fireblocks, a leading enterprise platform for managing digital asset operations and fostering blockchain-based innovations, has announced the expansion of its secure MPC-CMP wallet and key management technology. The expansion includes the integration of support for Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) as well as public and private cloud services from Thales, Securosys, AWS, GCP, and Alibaba Cloud. This development allows banks and financial institutions to leverage Fireblocks' robust security measures and cutting-edge technology stack to expedite their digital asset initiatives while adhering to risk, compliance, and regulatory requirements.
Fireblocks has established itself as a trusted partner for globally recognized banks and financial institutions, including BNY Mellon, BNP Paribas, ANZ Bank, NAB, ABN AMRO, BTG Pactual, Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, and SIX Digital Exchange. These esteemed institutions have leveraged Fireblocks' solutions to create new digital asset custody, trading, clearing, and settlement services. They have also utilized Fireblocks for tokenization of various financial products, such as tokenized fiat, central bank digital currencies (CBDC), and carbon credits.
Tel Aviv Stock Exchange's EVP and Head of Clearing, Orly Grinfeld, expressed their satisfaction with Fireblocks, citing the successful deployment of their digital treasury bond initiative, Project Eden, in just five months. Grinfeld highlighted Fireblocks' ability to meet their compliance and security requirements while efficiently streamlining the operations involving primary dealers, including renowned international banks such as Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, and JP Morgan.
To ensure seamless integration into existing IT infrastructure and security policies of financial institutions, Fireblocks now offers expanded support, including:
- HSM support with an open interface, enabling utilization of leading providers like Thales and Securosys, among others.
- Enhanced support for cloud-based secure enclaves, including AWS Nitro, GCP, and Alibaba Cloud SGX, in addition to existing support for Azure SGX.
- The capability to host all MPC key shares across multiple servers in on-premises data centers and cloud environments.
- New cloud data centers in the European Union, Switzerland, and Hong Kong, complementing Fireblocks' existing cloud data centers in the United States.
- Dedicated single-tenant cloud environment for increased security.
Fireblocks' collaboration with BNY Mellon also emphasizes their commitment to digital asset innovation. Sarthak Pattanaik, CIO of Digital Assets, Treasury Services, Clearance and Collateral Management at BNY Mellon, expressed their enthusiasm for leveraging Fireblocks' services to address the needs of their institutional clients.
Michael Shaulov, Co-founder and CEO of Fireblocks, emphasized the business-centric approach taken by Fireblocks since its inception. Shaulov highlighted the company's understanding of risk requirements at an architectural level, enabling them to expedite customers' transition from proof-of-concept to production. Over the past three years, Fireblocks has successfully facilitated the entry of 50 banks into the digital asset space, showcasing their dedication to providing optimal infrastructure support for banks and financial institutions entering the market.
Fireblocks offers various components that contribute to the success of banks and financial institutions in launching digital asset products. The Fireblocks Network serves as a vital foundation, connecting a wide consortium of regulated financial institutions that have integrated digital assets on the blockchain. This connectivity grants immediate access to exchanges, market makers, and other distribution partners, such as private banks and fintech platforms. Fireblocks APIs facilitate seamless integration with leading core banking systems like Temenos, Avaloq, and FIS, expanding the ecosystem's reach.
Additionally, Fireblocks' tokenization capabilities enable end-to-end lifecycle management of tokenized assets, encompassing smart contract management, minting and burning, distribution, and custody across public, private, and permissioned blockchains. This grants banks full control over their digital assets during interactions with counterparties. The platform's powerful Policy Engine further enhances security by allowing owners to govern workflows within the Fireblocks console, mitigating internal collusion, human error, and external attacks. Compliance partners can also be integrated directly into the Policy Engine, automating transaction screening workflows to meet evolving regulatory requirements and address industry threats.
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