A new consortium of banks and tech giants was set to announce its formation Tuesday, the latest stab at expanding open-ledger “blockchain” technology that could shave billions off the cost of basic Wall Street functions.

The latest project, which was to be unveiled in Brooklyn, is called the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance. The nonprofit foundation, which includes J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Microsoft Corp., Bank of New York Mellon Corp., Intel Corp. and Banco Santander SA, shows the fight is continuing to develop the killer...