The Digital Interbank Network should be thought of as a real-time blockchain network with two layers, Tassat CEO Ron Totaro suggested. The network, which was demonstrated Dec. 16 in New York, offers banks a real-time rail for payments and transfers built on blockchain.

See this story for a look at the broader significance of the Digital Interbank Network.

The first layer is the blockchain itself, which runs on an open-source, decentralized Ethereum network using the ERC-20 tokens. ERC-20 is a technical standard that is used for all smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain. It provides a common list of rules that all Ethereum-based tokens must follow.

The cloud-based network is a closed-loop blockchain, meaning the nodes cannot be viewed or accessed publicly.

The second layer is the core banking layer with a thin layer of technology from blockchain-based payments platform Tassat that enables the “wallet” and IP address to speak with the platform via an application programming interface (API).

Tassat’s solution offers both user interfaces and API connectivity, which Totaro said are “building blocks for creating ecosystems and embedded finance.”

“From an infrastructure perspective, think of it as if I have a [demand deposit] DDA account with a million dollars and I want to burn 200,000 tokens to send somewhere that goes into the wallet infrastructure that sits in an omnibus account,” he said. “That omnibus account lives with its own cloud infrastructure at a particular bank so it’s extraordinarily safe and secure, but it’s literally just an extension of their DDA account.”

To join the network requires IT to perform integration work into the core, Totaro said. Tassat sets up the platform and can have it ready within three months, he added.

Tassat is giving the network and the related intellectual property and network to banks to govern and run, Totaro told Bank Automation News.

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