PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a $35.9 bln professional services and auditing firm, released a Blockchain-based system called Vulcan Digital Asset Services, which is designed to handle various operations including banking, commerce, personal finance and asset management.
PwC Director and Vulcan lead Robert Allen announced that Vulcan is a cloud-based platform made for enterprise-grade platforms, large-scale corporations and financial institutions to leverage a transparent ledger to execute seamless transfer of data and money.
Allen stated:
“Vulcan is a cloud-based platform that enables banks and corporates to offer a suite of new digital currency related products and services to individual, retail and institutional customers within a trusted, transparent and compliant ecosystem. It is the first of its kind globally and has been created to bring digital assets and currency to the mainstream.”
Regulated Blockchain
Similar to multi-billion dollar professional services firm Accenture’s editable Blockchain concept, Vulcan is a permissioned and trusted Blockchain network structured to be compliant with existing financial regulations and policies.
Since Vulcan targets central banks, major financial institutions amongst other high profile companies, Allen notes that staying on par with both international and local regulations is a key to the success of Vulcan. He also revealed that Vulcan is currently being tested by a central bank and an international banking group.
“We’ve created Vulcan because at PwC we believe new technology supported by advances in cryptography and network computing – particularly Blockchain – will transform the consumer, government and financial market industries and shape the next generation of money,” Allen added.
Solution to regulatory boundaries
Other PwC executives, including PwC FinTech Asia Leader John Shipman, emphasized that Vulcan is one of the very few Blockchain systems that is able to handle and solve issues with trust and transparency.
Shipman and the rest of the PwC FinTech department understand that the integration and implementation of a Blockchain-based system will be subjected to heavy regulations and strict policies. While Shipman did not mention the technical specifications of its Blockchain system, he reassured potential clients and users that Vulcan asset wallets, as well as its transparent ledger, are being successfully tested by PwC partners.
“We’re already running several pilots within multiple industries looking at capturing digitised assets within our trusted wallets as well as issuing customer reward points as digital money. We’re also working with governments to see how these services can enhance transparency around humanitarian aid programs through the use of Smart (programmable) money,” Shipman said.
The development of Vulcan was led by Bloq, a Blockchain startup founded and managed by former Bitcoin Core developer Jeff Garzik. Because Garzik and the Bloq team are strong advocates for open source software and decentralized Blockchain platforms, it is highly likely that the PwC Vulcan Blockchain will be built on a decentralized ledger.