BTC Added to Impel’s ISO 20022 Financial Messaging API

Impel is pleased to announce that bitcoin (BTC) has been added as optional collateral for payments to its ISO 20022 financial messaging API. BTC can now be used in the instant settlement process for traditional banking services and other organisations that use the new ISO 20022 messaging standard. It provides the potential for enhanced customer experience, increased security, and significant cost savings.

The technology industry’s future is in the wide range of techniques that allow different blockchains to communicate with one another. Cross-chain compatibility refers to transferring digital assets and data from one blockchain to another. Interoperable bridges are critical in providing these robust payment options for desired digital assets.

We see this bridge between the Bitcoin and XDC Networks as an important step in creating real-world interoperability in the blockchain ecosystem,” said Bhavesh Thakkar, Co-Founder and CEO at DIMO.

To transfer digital assets between blockchains, Wanchain’s WanBridge employs an advanced version of the Lock-Mint-Burn-Unlock method. Assets are transferred directly from the source chain to the destination chain, with no intermediaries or relay networks involved. For example, when moving BTC to the XDC Network, the bridge’s nodes lock it on the Bitcoin Network before the XBTC is minted on the XDC Network. After that, the $XBTC can be used as collateral for ISO 20022 payments.

The bridge is operated by a group of permissionless, decentralised nodes and is elected monthly. To secure these cross-chain assets, the nodes use a combination of Secure Multipart Computation (sMPC) and Shamir’s Secret Sharing (SSS) to generate signatures. This is a far more secure approach than the current multisig standard. Furthermore, no single node or entity will directly access these wrapped assets, protected by a shared pool of digital assets that overcollateralize cross-chain assets.

said Troy S. Wood, CEO and Founder of Impel said: “Impel offers no-brainer solutions via an API for any organization in the world that needs to use the ISO 20022 compliant financial messaging standard; plus, we sweeten the deal with the option of adding collateral to the message’s payload for instant settlement.”

Impel’s ISO 20022 financial messaging standard is already widely used in more than 70 countries, and the US plans to implement it by 2025. Impel’s platform supports instant settlement with $XDC, the XDC Network’s native coin, XRC-20 tokens such as $XBTC, and the wrapped stablecoin USDC ($XUSDC).

Impel’s service offerings are built and run on the XDC Network, a Layer 1 blockchain protocol that is a highly optimised and customised fork of Ethereum. The network provides significant advantages, such as near-zero gas fees, and it achieves consensus via its delegated proof-of-stake (XDPoS) mechanism, which uses virtually no energy and allows for fast processing at two-second transaction times over 2,000 transactions per second. With its smart contracts, the XDC Network enables cross-chain interoperability. Project migrations to the network are seamless because the blockchain is compatible with Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).

Impel values security, and financial transactions are routed through a highly secure API, which uses a Layer 2 solution to prevent data exposure to unauthorised parties. A team created it with decades of experience providing secure technology infrastructure to banks and fintechs.

Impel’s financial messaging service will not have any implementation, annual membership, or per-usage fees. The XDC Network’s near-zero gas fee for sending messages and payments, which is only a fraction of a cent ($0.00001) or less per transaction, is the only cost for banks and financial institutions. Notably, financial transactions can be rolled up into a single message, which means that multiple messages can be sent in a single transaction, allowing for customization that meets the demands and desires of the parties involved.

Impel provides a self-paced ISO 20022 financial messaging demo that allows anyone to create and send transaction requests over the XDC Network’s mainnet, with the option to add collateral to the message’s payload, such as $XDC, $XBTC, or $XUSDC. The demo can be found on Impel’s website at https://impel.global.