Big Four accounting firms launch blockchain-based business contracts

Author: cryptoslate; Compiler: Blockchain Knight

EY, a Big Four accounting firm, released a new service for managing enterprise contracts through blockchain technology on April 17, called OpsChain Contract Manager (OCM).

The tool is designed to manage complex multi-party commercial agreements through blockchain technology and enhance security and privacy.

The OCM service currently runs on the Polygon Proof of Stake (PoS) blockchain and plans to upgrade to the Ethereum mainnet in the future.

OCM is designed to facilitate the secure processing of commercial contracts on public blockchains, ensuring privacy by leveraging zero-knowledge proofs to maintain the integrity and confidentiality of contracts while improving time efficiency and reducing costs.

OCM integrates with existing enterprise systems through a standardized application program interface (API) and supports a variety of contract types, including volume purchase agreements and price models that rely on market data feeds.

According to a report from The Block, while the service is currently advertised as running on Ethereum, it actually leverages Polygon PoS to take advantage of lower transaction fees to attract EY's industry user base.

Paul Brody, head of EY’s blockchain department, said: “The technology behind the Nightfall service originated from Ethereum and has been tested on the test network.”

“The upcoming update will transition Nightfall to the Ethereum mainnet and may include a third layer upgrade to improve scalability and functionality.”

Brody also talked about the operational advantages of OCM, noting that contract automation can greatly shorten cycle time and reduce management costs.

Brody emphasized the scalability and neutrality advantages of being deployed on a public blockchain, which prevents any one party from controlling the network.

Brody also noted that the future of enterprise blockchain applications is increasingly leaning towards public blockchains due to the higher privacy and transparency offered by public blockchains compared to private blockchains.

This development follows the increasing adoption of blockchain by major financial firms.  

Notably, BlackRock recently launched an NFT fund on Ethereum, marking a major step forward in institutional involvement with blockchain technology.

With the launch of OpsChain Contract Manager, EY aims to improve the way businesses manage contracts, making the process more efficient and transparent through blockchain technology.  

This move makes EY a pioneer in integrating blockchain into traditional business practices, setting a benchmark for the industry to adopt this technology in daily business.