R3’s blockchain software Corda, the product of the New York-based startup’s Concord project that aims to develop banking solutions overseen by 70 of the world’s biggest banks participating in the R3-led consortium, will go open source, via the Linux Foundation-led Hyperledger Project.

R3 is spearheading what is arguably the biggest private blockchain effort, with several of the world’s biggest banks, technological companies, and other financial services companies taking part in its consortium.

The startup’s Corda initiative – the blockchain solution software which is seen as its product to improve the current financial services industry, will be made publicly available and open-source, a Reuters report revealed today.

Corda’s code will be contributed to the Hyperledger Project on November 30, the report revealed. The decision to go open-source could have been the plan all-along for R3, as it attempts to pin its blockchain solution as the industry standard for banks globally.

Speaking to the publication, James Carlyle, chief engineer at R3 is insistent that R3 seeks to have banks and other institutions in the finance industry build products on top of its Corda software. He was quick to warn that developing multiple products across multiple platforms makes for a bad idea.

“We want other banks and other parties to innovate with products that sit on top of the platform, but we don’t want everyone to create their own platform,” Carlyle said, “… because we’ll end up with lots of islands that can’t talk to each other.”

He added:

If we have one platform with lots of products on top, then we get something that’s more like the internet, where we still get innovation but we can still communicate with each other.

It is all the more notable that R3 recently filed for a patent for Corda in August 2016.

A Global R3-based Banking Standard?

R3’s position as the foremost private blockchain developer backed and partnered by a majority of the world’s big banks makes its move to release the code for its patent(pending?) blockchain solution, a significant one.

At a time when various industries beyond the financial space rush to research and develop blockchain solutions, standardization of the technology will prove key, even out of necessity at some point. An official blockchain whitepaper released by the Chinese Government this week addresses this particular oversight.

Will R3’s move to open its software – developed by a select group of participants – see its Corda blockchain become the bedrock of the traditional banking infrastructure of the future? Time will tell.

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