"We are pleased to confirm our participation in the open ledger project as we recognise that there is currently no industry accepted, enterprise-grade blockchain framework today that is fit for purpose for our industry," said ANZ chief technology officer Patrick Maes in a statement.

Most large institutions are focusing on the blockchain network, rather than the Bitcoin currency itself, attempting to separate the two, which have been intrinsically linked. Bitcoin is currently the main incentive for so-called miners to carry on supporting the blockchain network, but there are many projects looking to transfer many other types of assets.

Earlier in the year, another set of financial institutions announced a collaboration to research and develop technology stemming from Bitcoin. Since the establishment of that "R3" project, more and more financial institutions have joined including The Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank and Macquarie Bank.

Earlier this week, Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens described the blockchain as the "really clever" bit of Bitcoin and outlined how it could benefit the global banking system.

"It is basically a distributed ledger as opposed to a centralised one, so in areas where you have no ledger it may be a cost-effective way of having one ... In areas where you've got a centralised ledger, the question is whether the distributed way of doing it will end up being more efficient and cheaper," he said.