American Express Joins Hyperledger Blockchain Project

By Stan Higgins

Credit card giant American Express has joined the Linux Foundation-led Hyperledger blockchain project.

The firm announced today that it would become a contributing member to the effort, launched in late 2015. Sastry Durvasula, a senior vice president and enterprise head of the firm’s data and digital tech division, will join the project’s governing board.

In a statement, AmEx indicated that the work with Hyperledger could lead to new kinds of services for its customer base.

AmEx chief information officer Marc Gordon said:

“We’re excited to join Hyperledger, as we’re looking to take full advantage of blockchain to deliver new and innovative products for our customers and partners, while transforming existing business processes and applications.”

The move is the latest for the company in the area of bitcoin and blockchain. American Express Ventures, the firm’s venture arm, invested in bitcoin startup Abra’s $12m Series A round in September 2015 – a move that it said could ultimately have an impact on the kinds of services it offers.

“As we watch the digital currency industry develop, we have seen that blockchain technology and the distributed ledger can play an important role in shaping the future,” AmEx Ventures managing partner Harshul Sanghi told CoinDesk at the time.

Those comments came less than a year after AmEx CEO Kenneth Chenault said that the technology underlying bitcoin “is going to be important” as the payments space looks to the future.

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