Groundbreaking HSBC blockchain transaction to revolutionize trade

HSBC and ING Bank have successfully executed the first scalable live trade finance transaction using blockchain for Cargill, an international food and agriculture conglomerate. 

Last week, a shipment of soybeans was transported from Argentina to Malaysia via Cargill’s Geneva and Singapore subsidiaries. The deal was financed using a Letter of Credit which was completed digitally on R3’s scalable Corda blockchain platform, marking a paradigm shift in the way goods are bought and sold.

The transaction demonstrates that blockchain is a commercially and operationally viable solution for trade digitization. 

HSBC’s Global Head of Innovation and Growth, Commercial Banking Vivek Ramachandran, Regional Head of Global Trade and Receivables Finance for Asia-Pacific Ajay Sharma, and ING’s Managing Director, Innovation Wholesale Banking Ivar Wiersma spoke about the groundbreaking transaction.