US Standards Body Establishes Working Group for Blockchain Tokens

The US branch of business reporting standards body XBRL has joined ethereum startup ConsenSys to develop standards for creating blockchain-based tokens.

Announced today, a new working group co-led by XBRL US aims to to eliminate transactional friction between blockchains and automate the tracking of tokens on a global scale. Current XBRL US members include the DTCC, Swift, Deloitte and Thompson Reuters, among others – all firms that have been experimenting with enterprise blockchain tech.

Cambell Pryde, president and CEO for XBRL US, argued that the development of standards in this area is key for future smart contract-based applications of the tech.

Pryde said in a statement.

"Creating a standard method to tokenize transacted assets is necessary to communicate ownership and value. Without standardization, the speed, accuracy and automation promised by smart contracts on the blockchain, simply will not happen."

The working group's formation follows other developments on the blockchain front for XBRL.

Earlier this year, XBRL announced a smart contracts and blockchain forum with speakers from itBit (now rebranded as Paxos), Markin and Nasdaq, among others. In August, the standards body joined ConsenSys and each of the “Big Four” accounting firms for an exploratory meeting aimed at weighing the creation of a blockchain accounting consortium.

The new blockchain tokenization working group aims to establish a development roadmap early next year.

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