Japan Exchange Group, Inc. (JPX) has announced that it has collaborated with IBM Japan to jointly begin conducting proof of concept (PoC) tests for blockchain, or distributed ledger technology.

Blockchain technology is increasingly gaining interest across the world. It is being perceived as one of the most promising aspects of Fintech that could be applied to constructing shared infrastructure to provide high availability and reliability at low cost. However, JPX noted that there are issues to be resolved in the technology, and it will need to be continually verified and improved before actual application in financial business operations.

JPX was established via the business combination between Tokyo Stock Exchange Group and Osaka Securities Exchange on January 1, 2013. It offers market users reliable venues for trading listed securities and derivatives instruments. In addition to providing market infrastructure and market data, JPX also provides clearing and settlement services through a central counterparty and conducts trading oversight to maintain the integrity of the markets.

IBM, on the other hand, has been taking interest in blockchain technology for quite some time. It is actively involved in the recently announced Hyperledger project that aims to develop a technology similar to blockchain that can bring new level of automation and transparency to a wide range of services, including stock exchanges and other financial markets.

“JPX will conduct PoC test in cooperation with IBM Japan to evaluate the limits and possibilities of the technology in markets that have low transaction data volume using the framework provided by the Hyperledger Project”, the press release said.