Tassat blockchain to join FedNow service with B2B onramp as pilot prepares for launch

The New York-based fintech said it will provide an API to allow clients to access the new Federal Reserve real-time payment service when it premiers.

Blockchain operator Tassat announced March 14 that it will provide access to the United States Federal Reserve’s FedNow payment system. FedNow, which will launch as a pilot project later this year, will provide real-time, round-the-clock payment service.

Tassat will serve as a business-to-business onramp for FedNow through a client-facing application programming interface (API), CEO Kevin Greene told Cointelegraph. Both the company’s interbank and intrabank services will provide FedNow access.

The FedNow pilot is expected to begin in June or July with a small number of banks. The system will offer real-time gross settlement by funneling commercial bank money from a sender through a Fed credit account to its recipient. It is often seen as a non-blockchain alternative to central bank digital currency (CBDC) and to stablecoin.

FedNow will initially be available only for domestic transfer, which suited Greene. “We have a lot of work to do here in America,” he said. He referred to the U.S. financial infrastructure as “antiquated.”

Fednow… pic.twitter.com/OGRW3kUUBh

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Tassat has a pipeline of six banks, which include the recently-shuttered Signature Bank. Greene said of the recent bank closures:

“Recent events have illuminated the existential crisis that small, mid-sized and regional banks face, particularly being squeezed out by the mega banks.”

Blockchain adoption is progressing rapidly in the banking system, according to Greene. “Sixteen months ago, most bank CEOs didn’t know much about blockchain at all,” he said, “and today the feeling is […] they have to have some kind of blockchain strategy.” Greene Added that Tassat had doubled its number of employees to 90 in the past 12 months.

Related: FedNow — US Federal Reserve Payment Tool a Threat to Banks, Not Crypto

Greene began as an investor and board member at the company when it was founded in 2017, then moved into the CEO and chairman positions.