Metallicus Launches Services On FedNow Instant Payments Platform

According to Cointelegraph, digital banking network Metallicus has announced the completion of its testing and certification phase and the launch of its services on the United States Federal Reserve’s FedNow instant payments platform. This announcement, made on October 22, follows more than a year after the Fed revealed Metal Blockchain’s integration with FedNow, underscoring the extensive certification process as the central bank aims to onboard thousands of financial institutions over time. Don Berk, the chief operating officer of Metallicus, stated, 'Metallicus has worked diligently to be certified as a service provider to financial institutions on the FedNow Service. We have been working closely with our banking partners and engineering team to secure this certification, bringing even greater connectivity to the Metallicus Digital Banking Network.' The Metal Blockchain, an open, layer-zero Avalanche fork, was designed to be secure and theoretically infinitely scalable. Information on the project’s website indicates that its design 'enables an infinite number of subnets to be deployed, each capable of processing 4,500 transactions per second.' The platform supports multiple programming languages and includes built-in support for decentralized applications (DApps) and smart contracts. The US Federal Reserve launched its FedNow payment service in July 2023 to facilitate instant payments and replace the outdated FedACH system. The previous system limited banks and other financial institutions to conducting transactions on weekdays during specific hours. In contrast, the new FedNow system operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and is approximately five times cheaper to use than traditional wire services. Despite comparisons to a central bank digital currency (CBDC), the US Federal Reserve maintains that the FedNow service is unrelated to CBDCs, as the government holds no fiduciary liability.