A new consortium of banks and tech giants - the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance – is the latest attempt at applying open-ledger “blockchain” technology to basic Wall Street and banking functions. Based in Brooklyn, NY, this nonprofit foundation features such big names as JPMorgan, Microsoft, BNY Mellon, Intel, and Banco Santander.

So far, there has been more hype than tangible progress for blockchain at banks. The group announcing itself this week is building a platform based on an open-source software project JPMorgan started last year called Quorum, which aims to eliminate the need for a costly infrastructure of middlemen and third parties overseeing transactions.  [See Financiaish10/3/16 article: JPMorgan Ventures Into Blockchain Technology.]

Quorum uses the core concepts behind blockchain, the open-ledger technology that underpins the digital currency bitcoin. But it is based on Ethereum, an alternative version of bitcoin. Blockchains have been appealing to banks because they are networks of connected computers sharing the same database and record-keeping. That eliminates costs, but raises questions about how banks would handle proprietary information on such a transparent ledger.

The Ethereum Enterprise Alliance expects to launch a working version of its protocol, called EntEth 1.0, this year, and will be inviting developers to help build it out and build products on it. The goal is to create an open, flexible platform that would at the same time preserve some privacy for banks.

The alliance is a sign that the race to build out this technology on a large scale is heating up again.