Societe Generale to Use as Many as Five Blockchains in Capital Markets Trials

The tech arm of Societe Generale has confirmed plans to use up to five different blockchains to test digital securities and a central bank digital currency (CBDC).

• Earlier this week, Forge, a tech-focused subsidiary of the French investment bank, announced it was experimenting with the Tezos blockchain to gauge how useful it would be for capital market activities.
• But speaking to CoinDesk, Jean-Marc Stenger, the CEO of Forge, said it is considering running trials on a handful of blockchains, although he declined to disclose which ones.
• He added Societe Generale hopes to ultimately support up to five separate blockchains.
• Tezos is the second blockchain tested by Societe Generale. Last year, the bank completed a $100 million bond issuance on Ethereum.
• Tezos' protocol and consensus proof-of-stake algorithm as well as its on-chain governance and smart contract language will be utilized to test the use of blockchains for "high-value financial applications," per a press release Tuesday.
• Forge Chief Technology Officer Stephane Duzan said Forge chose Tezos because it provides the company with the freedom to develop features that would be much harder to do on older protocols.
• Being able to work across multiple blockchains would also improve interoperability and liquidity for clients, he said.
• The tech arm will also use Tezos for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) experiment primarily for interbank settlements – it has run in concert with the French central bank and financial regulators since the summer.

See also: French Central Bank Chief Eyes Public-Private Partnership for Possible Digital Euro