Open-source blockchain platform Ethereum has unveiled its latest blockchain development group, with partners Santander and JP Morgan pledging support for the project. The new consortium group will bring together developers, startups and financial companies like Santander and JP Morgan to explore new enterprise use cases for the blockchain protocol. The consortium consists of a growing number of companies, including many that have previously worked on blockchain projects.

Open-source blockchain platform Ethereum has unveiled its latest blockchain development group, with partners Santander and JP Morgan pledging support for the project.

The new consortium group will bring together developers, startups and financial companies like Santander and JP Morgan to explore new enterprise use cases for the blockchain protocol.

The consortium consists of a growing number of companies, including many that have previously worked on blockchain projects. Tech companies like Microsoft, Red Hat and Cisco are involved alongside Banco Santander, BP, Wipro and others, in addition to a number of blockchain startups including BlockApps, ConsenSys and Tendermint.

The not-for-profit group will explore ways in which blockchain technology can be implemented at an enterprise level across different industries, and represents the largest-scale project ever to be undertaken by the Ethereum group.

With an increasing number of financial-sector firms now signed up to assist, the new project is being seen as one of the most comprehensive so far in exploring uses for financial services companies.

Analysts have suggested the financial sector in particular stands to benefit significantly from the emergence of blockchain technologies, which could boost security while reducing transactional cost, risk and friction through its automated distributed ledger system.

The group is expected to work on both open-source and private development of the protocol, a potentially promising development for those interested in the blockchain more broadly.

While the majority of project partners were as yet unavailable for comment, a spokesperson for BNY Mellon said the consortium was one of a number of projects the company was exploring.

“BNY Mellon is taking a number of steps to use distributed ledger technology. We continue to explore and participate in various initiatives, some that we may be announcing in the near future.”

The consortium is expected to attract interest from new partners, as more companies switch on to the strategic benefits blockchain development could have for their businesses and industries.

While the project remains a loose collaboration, a formal not-for-profit entity is expected to be set up in the near future to consolidate the partnership relationship, and to make it easier for the various project stakeholders to pool development resources.

The move is seen as yet more good news for blockchain technology, as it continues to develop and progress toward the mainstream in 2017.