Six global banking giants have taken a huge step into digital currencies with a joint project to create a digital currency provisionally titled the ‘utility settlement coin’.

According to the Financial Times, the group is planning to launch the digital currency next year. Utility settlement coins will be used for clearing and settling financial transactions over blockchain.

The six global banks taking part in the project are Barclays, Credit Suisse, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, HSBC, MUFG and State Street. The coin itself was created by Switzerland’s UBS in order to improve the efficiency of financial markets.

The Financial Times quotes UBS’s head of strategic investment and fintech innovation saying that the group has been in talks with central banks and regulators in order to pave the way for a limited live release towards the end of 2018.

The project, which was first launched in 2015, represents a major step in the major financial institutions increasing interest in blockchain technology. UBS partnered with Clearmatics, the developer of ‘permissioned’ blockchain technology.

The project is currently in its third phase, which involves the testing of formal transfer of ownership and an accurate cash equivalence definition for the transfer. The project is trying to anticipate what a real-time end-to-end transaction between members would look like.

The current phase is expected to last around 12 months, with the next phase being the limited roll-out in 2018.

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