Oman Oil and Orpic Group and HSBC Bank Oman SAOG have carried out the first trade finance transaction on the country’s blockchain, using R3’s Corda platform.

According to a report by the Oman Observer, one of Oman’s largest oil and gas businesses, Oman Oil and Orpic Group carried out the country’s first blockchain trade finance transaction, which was a sale of polypropylene to Abu Dhabi National Carpet Factory.

As part of the transaction, HSBC Oman advised a fully digitised letter of credit on the blockchain, reports Coin Telegraph, while Oman Oil and Orpic Group was the beneficiary of the letter of credit. By utilising blockchain, the transaction was able to be undertaken within 24 hours, rather than the usual five to 10 days.

According to the chief financial officer at Oman Oil and Orpic Group, Nizar al Lawati, the firm is proud to be one of the first in Oman to promote the digitalisation to trade finance via blockchain. 

Sadiq al Lawati, finance and strategy commercial value partner at Oman Oil and Orpic Group, said: “This blockchain pilot is an important station in our journey towards digitisation, a journey that started with Artificial Intelligence (RPA++) and continues to embrace new disruptive technologies.”

Financial institutions across the globe have been progressively adopting blockchain technology, aiming to enhance their internal processes. 

Back in February, Oman’s second-largest bank by market value, BankDhofar started to use RippleNet technology for cross-border payments to India. This permitted the bank to offer cross-border transfers through a mobile banking application “in less than 2 minutes,” allowing non-residents from India residing in Oman to carry out real-time payment transfers.

deVere CEO Nigel Green has been saying for a long time that cryptocurrencies are the future of money: “There are, to my mind, five principal reasons for this.

“First, and one of the key advantages of cryptocurrencies, is that they are borderless. This makes them ideally suited to the world of commerce, trade and people as it becomes ever more globalised.

“Second, cryptocurrencies are digital, which means they are a natural part of the world’s advancing digitalisation, frequently referred to as the fourth industrial revolution.

“Third, cryptocurrencies help the so-called unbanked population, by making international remittances far quicker and more efficient.

“Fourth, younger generations are more likely to take cryptocurrencies on board than perhaps older people would, therefore placing demographics on their side.

“Finally, fifth, we’re now seeing more and more institutional investors opting for cryptocurrencies and bringing their institutional experience, capital and expertise to the digital currency market.”