ICICI, Axis and HDFC Bank pick up stake in blockchain start-up

Private sector lenders including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank have picked up a stake in blockchain technology focussed start-up IBBIC Pvt Ltd.

In separate stock exchange filings on Tuesday, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank said they have picked up 50,000 equity shares amounting to 5.55 per cent stake in IBBIC.

HDFC Bank and Axis Bank invested ₹5 lakh each for the shares.

ICICI Bank also said it has subscribed to 49,000 fully paid-up equity shares of face value ₹10 each of IBBIC constituting 5.44 per cent of the issued and paid-up share capital. It paid ₹4.9 lakh for the shares.

IBBIC was incorporated on May 25 this year as a financial technology company with the objective of providing a platform for exploring, building, and implementing distributed ledger technology (DLT) solutions for the Indian financial services sector.

About 15 banks have come together to set up IBBIC, with an aim to expand the use of blockchain application in financial sector transactions.