The consortium, which included BP and Shell, as well as a number of large global banks, announced the official launch of the Blockchain platform Vakt. Its goal is to optimize processes for trading commodities, including the transfer of paper documentation to smart contracts.
The consortium also included ABN Amro, ING Societe Generale banking groups, the trading company Gunvor Group, the Norwegian oil, and gas company Equinor, the energy trading companies Mercuria Energy Group and Koch Supply and Trading.
The description of the platform states that Vakt digitizes what used to be paperwork in every transaction between the parties. Note that Vakt is associated with the komgo platform, the launch of which was announced in September. Komgo will provide financing, including digital letters of credit, while Vakt will act as a logistics operator.
Initially, the platform users will be Equinor, Mercuria and Koch, and trading will be limited to BFOET (North Sea oil mixture) contracts for crude oil. Future plans include expanding activities to all physically traded commodities, as well as opening other companies to the platform in early 2019.
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