The first foray into digital ledger technology for the enterprise, known as Easy Trading Connect (ETC) and focused on raw materials, came in February 2017.
"We made a pilot loan on the ETC platform with Mercury on energy, observing how we could execute a crude oil transaction on the blockchain," said Arnoud Star Busmann, director of the ING program for trade and raw materials, blockchain innovation interview with Fastmarkets.
The pilot saw Mercuria, the energy trader, use the ETC platform to send African crude to a buyer in China using ING's commercial finance, confirmed by Société Générale.
"We focused mainly on letters of credit, on the side of commercial finance," said Star Busmann. "In addition to obvious and well-publicized lessons, he also told us that we had to go much further in the industry and take the perspective of physical players," he added.
This research led ING to a collaboration with energy …
