BNP Paribas completes first batch of 'real blockchain transactions', blockchain gradually moves towards real product stage

BNP Paribas announced today that a billion-dollar packaging company and a multimillion-dollar global seller of collectibles have completed the first ‘live’ transactions using their blockchain service.

According to BNP Paribas, Italian sports collectibles company Panini Group and Australian packaging company Amcor used the bank’s blockchain payment service to process and clear their transactions.

The bank added that the payment was completed in 'a matter of minutes' and involved the use of a number of different currencies to facilitate transactions between branch accounts in Germany, Switzerland and the UK.

Fabrizio Masinielli, Panini Group’s financial director, said in a statement:

“This proof of concept demonstrates the enormous power of this technology and how it can be used to effectively address key issues that finance executives face in their daily work.”

The transactions were executed using a ‘cash without borders’ proof-of-concept that was launched at a blockchain hackathon earlier this year. BNP Paribas did not disclose details of the size of the transactions.

In addition to blockchain-based payments, BNP Paribas has also been experimenting with so-called ‘mini-bonds’ for smaller investors, as well as a number of blockchain crowdfunding tools that were initially set to be launched by the end of this year.

According to the Panini Group corporate website, the company had revenues of 751 million euros in 2014 and employed about 1,000 people worldwide. In the same year, Amcor had sales of more than $10 billion and more than 29,000 employees.

As we head into 2017, many industry observers predict that blockchain will gradually move from the early proof-of-concept stage to products with real value.