Soramitsu and the Central Bank of Cambodia to Develop New Payment Infrastructure Using Hyperledger Iroha

Japanese blockchain startup Soramitsu Co. and the National Bank of Cambodia have announced that they will collaborate to co-develop the open source distributed ledger project Hyperledger Iroha with the aim to build a new payment infrastructure based on blockchain technology.

Hyperledger Iroha is an open-source software framework and part of the Linux Foundation’s Hyperledger Project. Hyperledger Iroha is a distributed ledger software that specializes in developing applications, such as mobile and web applications, for end users to interact with and allows for data to be processed quickly and securely. This makes Hyperledger Iroha a useful framework for digital payments, identity management, and supply chain management, among a range of other possible applications.

Using the Hyperledger Iroha software, currencies can be digitized and can become programmable through the use of smart contracts. That means that the conditions of a transaction can be programmed and automatically executed by a computer program. This technology can be used to create “smart money”, which can be utilized to build more efficient and secure payment systems as it allows for fully automated self-executing payments in what-if scenarios. This, in turn, would increase the speed and efficiency of payment systems as well as reduce the costs of processing payments digitally.

Tokyo-based fintech company Soramitsu is a member of the Hyperledger Project and created and co-maintains the open source distributed ledger platform Hyperledger Iroha. Soramitsu was founded in early 2016 with the aim is to contribute to society by helping governments and financial institutions manage digital identities, assets, and contracts through the use of blockchain technology.

Soramitsu’s collaboration with the National Bank of Cambodia will see blockchain technology be applied to develop a new payment system framework that could potentially be implemented on a global scale to improve the current status quo of payment systems.

Soramitsu’s CEO Kazumasa Miyazawa said: “The application of information technology to finance is at a historical turning point. It is our goal to make Japanese blockchain technology the global standard and to use our technology to change the world for the better. When I created Edy, we were limited by the technology of the time and a lack of regulatory clarity. Through our work with the National Bank of Cambodia, we will be able to take the first step toward creating a more efficient payment infrastructure, which we hope to expand globally in the future.”