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Vakt, a London-based blockchain startup backed by a group of oil majors and trading houses, has signed up four new clients ahead of its platform’s official launch, The Financial Times reported.
Created and launched as an independent company in December 2017, Vakt is a blockchain-based post-trade processing platform. It aims to digitalise the existing paper-based process of physical commodity trading.
The platform went live last November with its initial backers including BP, Shell and Total and traders Gunvor and Mercuria. Chevron, Equinor, and Reliance Industries have also joined the initiative.
Etienne Amic, Vakt’s newly appointed CEO, has announced that Vakt has signed up four new clients ahead of its official launch at International Petroleum Week that commenced on Tuesday, February 26.
“We felt that we needed about 60 to 70 per cent of a market to reach ignition point [that would] incentivise other people to join,” Amic said.
Reuters had previously reported that the platform will be initially limited to contracts for the five North Sea crude grades that are used to set Dated Brent and plans to include U.S. crude pipelines and barges of refined products in early 2019.
According to FT, Vakt intends to expand to barges of oil products such as gasoline, in northern Europe as well as US crude pipelines.
