Fintech consortium R3 has gone live with its commercial blockchain platform for business, Corda Enterprise.

The software is billed as a “commercial version of Corda”, which is an open source blockchain platform, on which trade finance transactions can be completed.

There are a number of trade-related functionalities available on Corda Enterprise, including GuildOne, an application that allows for the completion of royalty contracts in the oil sector on blockchain, and Tradewind Markets, which digitises the trade of precious metals.

Fintech companies Finastra and TradeIX also have applications available on the launched platform.

The launch marks the latest move to bring R3’s software into the production phase. Ernst and Young, Guardtime and Maersk combined to launch Insurwave on Corda in May. This is billed as the world’s first blockchain solution for marine insurance.

Also in May, HSBC and ING used Corda to process the documents to ship soybeans from Argentina to Malaysia. This was both banks’ first trade finance transaction using distributed ledger technology (DLT), however it was developed outside of the R3 consortium.

GTR understands that plans for further live transactions are afoot, with HSBC having engaged numerous other banks to take part.

As opposed to the open source Corda, Corda Enterprise uses a firewall, which R3 claims improves data security. It allows companies to communicate securely with other nodes anywhere else in the world, R3 claims.

“To enable safe peer-to-peer enterprise networking R3 created the Blockchain Application Firewall—the only one of its kind—which not only allows secure operation of Corda nodes from inside the corporate firewall, but also provides an additional level of security for a company’s blockchain system by validating identity of connecting peers before any messages reach the node,” Sophie Wiberg Holm, project lead at R3, tells GTR.

The software is available on a licensed basis. Companies are able to write their own apps on the platform, or to use those already launched.

“We chose Corda due to its high level of security and privacy as well as its seamless interoperability. Following a successful proof of concept in 2017, we have kicked off the pilot with a number of international banks and are looking forward to going into full production in the near future,” says Rob Barnes, CEO of TradeIX.

Jacqueline Morcombe, global solution lead for lending at Finastra, adds: “Finastra selected Corda to build our blockchain-based solution, Fusion LenderComm, due to its strong levels of privacy and security. This enabled our team to build a secure solution which streamlines information exchange between agent banks and lenders, driving transparency and efficiency in the syndicated loan market.”

At the Singapore Fintech Festival in November 2017, R3 founder David Rutter told GTR that missing full production for Corda by the end of 2018 would be “problematic”. Despite rumours about financial difficulties, the consortium seems to be moving towards achieving this goal.