Digital Asset Holdings LLC, a developer of distributed ledger technology for the financial services industry, announced on Thursday that it has raised US$50 million from a collection of major financial institutions, and signed a deal with the Australian exchange, ASX Ltd., to develop applications for the blockchain technology in securities processing.

New York-based Digital Asset raised the funding from a broad collection of financial industry firms, including ABN AMRO, Accenture, ASX, BNP Paribas, Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc., Citi, CME Ventures, Deutsche Börse Group, ICAP, J.P. Morgan, Santander InnoVentures, The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) and The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.

The company also announced that it has been selected by the ASX to develop distributed ledger services for the Australian market, starting with clearing and settlement services in the cash equities market.

These announcements follow on the heels of news earlier this week that a group of 11 banks, including TD Bank and BMO Financial, successfully carried out a test of distributed ledger technology, which is seen as potentially making the execution and processing of financial transactions much faster and more efficient.

See: Major banks complete blockchain test

“These investments represent a tremendous endorsement of Digital Asset from banks, exchanges, settlement and clearing firms, central securities depositories, and market infrastructure and professional services providers,” says Blythe Masters, CEO of Digital Asset, in a statement. “Our strategic investors have come together from across the financial services industry to help drive global adoption of transformative solutions which enhance the vital services that they provide.”

“We are proud to be a lead investor in this round of financing,” adds Sanoke Viswanathan, chief administrative officer of J.P. Morgan’s corporate & investment bank. “Distributed ledger technology has the potential to transform the way our industry does business, and we believe Digital Asset has the right talent and technology to make it a reality.”

“Distributed ledger technology could provide a once in a generation opportunity to reduce cost, time and complexity in the post-trade environment of Australia’s equity market,” says Elmer Funke Kupper, managing director and CEO of ASX. “Moreover, it could stimulate greater innovation by ASX and other providers of services to issuers, investors and intermediaries. ASX and Digital Asset will work together to design a solution and share the potential benefits with clients and regulators.”