XinFin Signs On To R3 Corda For Enterprise Blockchain Apps

R3 Corda

Enterprise blockchain platform XinFin is joining the R3 consortium, with the R3 Corda marketplace hosting several XinFin apps for business users, the companies said in a press release Friday (Feb. 8).

The blockchain-powered XinFin applications include invoice financing, trade finance, real-time remittance, digital asset management and apps with other functionality. Financial institutions that use the R3 Corda blockchain platform can gain access to and integrate these apps.

XinFin also noted that its developer community will bridge the Corda private network to XinFin’s public network to support a hybrid, public-private blockchain ecosystem. XinFin’s public eXchange inFinite public network has integrated Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering capabilities designed to maintain security while transacting assets like trade finance instruments and bonds, the announcement noted.

In 2017 XinFin announced that it aimed to standardize enterprise blockchains by adding the XdC01 protocol, which allows firms to “keep their financial transactions private but still verifiable by an immutable record on the public state of blockchain,” XinFin Chief Technology Officer Karan Bharadwaj said in a statement at the time.

XinFin also said in that announcement it would integrate its hybrid blockchain technology into an array of enterprise apps through collaborations with various partners with a focus on “business process re-engineering, supply chain, financing, procurement and settlement.”

R3’s collaboration with XinFin follows last month’s announcement that ING Bank reached an agreement with R3 that allows the financial institution to access an unlimited number of licenses from the Corda Enterprise platform, and to deploy those apps across its own back-office systems. ING said that it would target trade finance, insurance, identity management and other back-office apps.

“Our longstanding joint journey with R3 has proven that this is the most mature [distributed ledger technology] solution to serve the needs of the financial service industry,” said ING Head of Innovation for Wholesale Banking Annerie Vreugdenhil in a statement last month.


Treasury IG and GAO Investigate DOGE Access to Federal Payment Systems

US Treasury Department, DOGE, investigations

The Treasury Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) are investigating the reported decision by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to allow the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to access government payment systems.

The investigations were announced in a Friday (Feb. 14) press release issued by the Democratic membership of the Senate Banking Committee, which included links to letters from the agencies sent in response to a request for an investigation from Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore.

In one letter, whose signer was redacted, the GAO said: “GAO accepts your request as work that is within the scope of its authority. As we discussed with your staff, given the broad congressional interest of this request, we are accepting this work with the understanding that any Member of Congress can sign on to the work as a co-requester. We plan to conduct one body of audit work and issue multiple reports, if needed.”

In the other letter included with the press release, Treasury Department Deputy Inspector General Loren J. Sciurba wrote that the Office of the Inspector General began an audit related to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service’s payment systems on Feb. 6.

The audit aims to determine the adequacy of controls in place for access to the payment system and for ensuring payments are made in accordance with laws, and to follow up on any allegations of improper or fraudulent payments made by the Fiscal Service, Sciurba said in the letter.

“Given the breadth of this effort, the audit will likely not be completed until August; however, we recognize the danger that improper access or inadequate controls can pose to the integrity of sensitive payment systems,” Sciurba wrote. “As such, if critical issues come to light before that time, we will issue interim updates and reports.”

It was reported Feb. 2 that Bessent gave DOGE access to the federal payment system that disburses money on behalf of the federal government. This access provides DOGE with a tool that can be used to monitor and limit government spending.

The members of the DOGE team who were given access to the system were made Treasury employees, passed government background checks and obtained security clearances. Treasury Department attorneys approved the granting of access.