“FedNow Early Adopters: Will Blockchains be Integrated Later?”

FedNow Unveils Roster of Early Adopters

On June 29, the Federal Reserve unveiled the roster of certified “early adopters” for its forthcoming instant payment system, FedNow. These organizations have been given the go-ahead to link up with the platform when it goes live in late July. Notably, no blockchain networks are present on the list, even though at least two had previously declared their intention to connect to the instant payment system.

The FedNow service declared that certain organizations not yet included may be integrated in the future, and Metal Blockchain declared that they still plan to link up with the platform when they have secured “the necessary bank sponsor”.

FedNow, a payment service currently being developed by the U.S. Federal Reserve, is said to enable instantaneous transfers between banks in the United States, akin to the Faster Payments system of the United Kingdom and the Single Euro Payments Area of Europe.

Currently, within the United States, bank transfers can only be completed via ACH or wire transfers, which do not have instantaneous processing. FedNow is anticipated to start in July.

Metal Blockchain and Tassat Aim to Integrate with FedNow

At least two blockchain networks have declared they will be interfacing with FedNow when it goes live. Metal Blockchain, by Metallicus, is one of them. In May, the Metallicus group declared their system will permit immediate transformation of cash to stablecoins by associating with FedNow. At that time, FedNow’s official website also listed Metallicus in its “service provider showcase,” indicating the integration was going to happen.

Within days of the announcement, the listing was taken down. On May 15, Twitter user JeffXRP commented on the peculiarity of its abrupt removal.

No names of Metallicus or Metal Blockchain are found on the list of “service providers” that was published on June 29, which includes ACI Worldwide, ECS Fin, FPS Gold, Open Payment Network and eleven other payment providers.

In an interview with Cointelegraph, Marshall Hayner, co-founder and CEO of Metallicus, affirmed that the company is still aiming to incorporate Metal Blockchain with FedNow once they acquire the necessary banking support, saying:

Tassat, the creator of TassatPay and the Digital Interbank Network, is another blockchain network that revealed its integration with FedNow. This network is said to be a private blockchain for commercial banks which facilitates business-to-business transactions. In March, it declared that it would link its digital B2B payment platform to the forthcoming FedNow service.

As of June 30, Tassat was featured on the FedNow “service provider showcase” website.

However, Tassat was not included in the June 30 list of “early adopters” as a certified service provider. Cointelegraph attempted to contact the Tassat team via email, but had not received a response at the time of writing.

In the Federal Reserve’s statement, it was noted that certain entities not currently included may eventually become service providers.

Criticism of FedNow and Denial of CBDC Connection

Some blockchain users have expressed criticism of FedNow, asserting that it is a move towards a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has declared that it will lead to “financial slavery”. However, in April the Federal Reserve denied any association between FedNow and a CBDC.