Blockchain network built in the banking system of the Republic of Belarus

The National Bank of the Republic of Belarus established the information network on the basis of the blockchain technology, which may be used to tackle a wide range of modern and promising banking and non-banking tasks.

„At the first stage, the blockchain network was, virtually, implemented within the banking system of the country. Any bank or a non-bank financial institution may become the owner of the verifying node of the blockchain network.”, according to the press release.

The Settlement Center of the National Bank was authorized to be administrator of the blockchain network. On the whole, a self-adjusting mechanism of management and development of the Belarusian segment of the blockchain network, involving the Council of Nodes (owners of the verifying nodes), the members of which have equal rights, was built.

The first example of practical use of the blockchain network in the banking system of the Republic of Belarus was the possibility to transfer the information on the issued bank guarantee and the banking guarantee itself. The Belarusian banks may use this possibility in the near future in line with Resolution of the Board of the National Bank No. 279 dated July 11, 2017, which came into force on July 15, 2017 and provides for the inclusion of the blockchain technology in the mechanism of the transmission of information on bank guarantees.

The new mechanism of maintenance of the register of bank guarantees will ensure the mutual access of the economic entities of the states being members of the Eurasian Economic Union to the procedures of the government procurements of goods (works, services).

It is planned, that the next stage will be implementation of the blockchain technology in the securities market. The JSC „Belarusian Currency and Stock Exchange” is planning to use blockchain for the purpose of maintaining the register of transactions involving securities in the stock and OTC markets. The implementation of the project will make it possible to organize this register on the qualitatively new level, that will create conditions for improvement of transparency and further development of the stock market in the Republic of Belarus.

At present, the use of the blockchain network in Belarus does not involve transactions with virtual currencies. At the same time, there are no any conceptual restrictions as to the areas of the blockchain use in the IT sphere.
Over the longer term this technology may be used in the banking sphere as well as beyond it to tackle any other tasks, including, for example, organization of work with „smart” contracts.

Under the conditions of availability of legislative environment, the information verified within the blockchain network may be further used in different kinds of activities requiring provision of information: in business, records management, medicine, legal support, and many other spheres.

The blockchain information technology has been widely used since 2008. A peculiar feature of the blockchain is the decentralized structure of storage of the identical in the entire network blocks of information, that ensures an integrated fault tolerance, lack of centralized control and points of failure. The information being kept in the blockchain network is transparent in so far as the common data base is simultaneously available at all computers incorporated in the network. The records preserved therein are publicly available and easily checked. The blockchain network may not be broken up since the change of even one unit of information requires replacement of information in the entire network.

Source:  The National Bank of the Republic of Belarus