Royal Bank of Scotland Trialing In-House Cryptocurrency

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is experimenting with its own in-house cryptocurrency, says the bank's technology chief.

By Yessi Bello Perez

Oct 7, 2015 at 4:56 p.m. UTC

Updated Sep 11, 2021 at 11:54 a.m. UTC

Join the most important conversation in crypto and Web3 taking place in Austin, Texas, April 26-28.

Secure Your Seat

Yessi Bello Perez

Join the most important conversation in crypto and Web3 taking place in Austin, Texas, April 26-28.

Secure Your Seat

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is experimenting with its own in-house cryptocurrency, says the bank's technology chief.

RBS is a subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, which also includes NatWest and large Irish commercial bank Ulster Bank.

Neil Bellamy, head of technology, media and telecoms, told The Memo that RBS had created, traded and settled its currency between the group's banks.

Commenting on the potential of blockchain technology, Bellamy added:

"It's a pipe dream, but imagine if you could take a distributed ledger system and put it in a back office and do away with a lot of that legacy infrastructure. A lot of people think we're going to be very wary and defensive or shy away from some of this newer cryptocurrency [sic] but I think the actual process and the sentiment behind it could be very exciting."

In the report, Bellamy also said that a cryptocurrency company had used one of RBS' technology solution centres – utilized by businesses to test the viability of their products in a life-like environment – to test their bitcoin distributed ledger technology.

The reports come after RBS's chief administrative officer, Simon McNamara announced that the bank was trialling Ripple technology as part of its £3.5bn technological revamp in June and the bank partnered with distributed ledger startup R3 CEV last month.

RBS image via Nessluop / Shutterstock.com

DISCLOSURE

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.

Yessi Bello Perez

Learn more about Consensus 2023, CoinDesk’s longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.

Yessi Bello Perez