Digital banking network Metallicus announced the completion of its testing and certification phase and the launch of its services on the United States Federal Reserve’s FedNow instant payments platform.
The Oct. 22 announcement comes more than a year after the Fed announced Metal Blockchain’s integration with FedNow, highlighting the lengthy certification process as the central bank purportedly aims to onboard thousands of financial institutions over time.
Per Don Berk, the chief operating officer of Metallicus:
“Metallicus has worked diligently to be certified as a service provider to financial institutions on the FedNow Service. We have been working closely with our banking partners and engineering team to secure this certification, bringing even greater connectivity to the Metallicus Digital Banking Network.”
Metal Blockchain
The Metal Blockchain is an open, layer-zero Avalanche fork. According to its developers, it was designed to be secure and, theoretically, infinitely scalable.
Information provided on the project’s website indicates that its design “enables an infinite number of subnets to be deployed, each capable of processing 4,500 transactions per second.”
One of the major draws to the platform is its support for multiple programming languages and baked-in support for DApps and smart contracts.
An image posted to X.com shows the Metal Blockchain digital banking network. Source: Metal Blockchain.
FedNow
The US Federal Reserve launched its FedNow payment service in July 2023. It was designed to facilitate instant payments and replace the outdated previous system, known as FedACH.
With the FedACH system, banks and other financial institutions dependent on the Federal Reserve’s infrastructure were limited to conducting transactions on weekdays during certain hours.
The new FedNow system is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and, according to the government, is approximately five times cheaper to use than traditional wire services.
Related: US Treasury strategy would tighten virtual asset regulations, increase AI use
Despite comparisons to a central bank digital currency (CBDC), the US Federal Reserve asserts that the FedNow service has no relation to CBDCs as the government itself holds no fiduciary liability.
Magazine: Fake Rabby Wallet scam linked to Dubai crypto CEO and many more victims