Leading blockchain and cryptocurrency organizations have teamed up for a new initiative – Universal Protocol Alliance – to help distributed ledger technology and cryptocurrencies achieve mainstream adoption.

As cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum exist on separate blockchain platform, they cannot interact or collaborate with one another, which leads to significant efficiencies. The Universal Protocol Platform or UP Platform addresses these challenges by allowing all cryptocurrencies to become accessible on a single network through “Proxy Tokens.”

“Proxy Tokens are a digital representation of their underlying asset and can exist on other blockchains. Using these Proxy Tokens, the UP Platform creates a common universal language that allows distinct blockchains and token-based projects to interact freely and frictionlessly with each other,” according to the official release.

The UP Platform is backed by a number of institutional investors including FBG Capital, Dekrypt Capital, Alphabit, and Arrington XRP Capital.

Founding members of the Universal Protocol Alliance include Uphold, Cred (formerly known as Libra Credit), Blockchain at Berkeley, and Brave. They have announced a universal transparent reserve and custody standard for decentralized assets.

“The UP Platform will publish the value of its assets in custody in real-time on a public blockchain. The reserve will also be subject to quarterly third-party audits that will be shared with the community to demonstrate the financial soundness of the Proxy Token ecosystem,” it added.

The platform will unlock the full potential of blockchain technology by creating a new world of tokenized digital assets – Proxy blockchains, Proxy securities and Proxy Private Equity – and facilitating instant and seamless conversion of different forms of value.

“We believe that the Universal Protocol Platform is a technology that has the potential to connect blockchain technologies, much like the breakthrough of the TCP and IP protocols that drove the internet towards mass adoption,” JP Thieriot, President of the UP Alliance and Co-founder of Uphold.