The firm's new partnership is the latest in a string of pushes from industry participants to make use of the nascent technology.

US asset manager Fidelity Investments has joined a blockchain consortium comprising academic institutions and technology companies, as it looks to “make tomorrow's financial systems more flexible, transparent, efficient and secure”.

The Initiative for CryptoCurrencies & Contracts, or IC3, is based at the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute at Cornell Tech University in New York. The group includes academics from various technology-focused universities as well as partners from the IT sector, including IBM and Intel. 

Boston-based Fidelity joined the initiative through its innovation arm, Fidelity Labs, in a bid to develop systems that streamline certain processes while tightening security standards, the firm said in a blog post earlier this week. 

“Our team at Fidelity Labs is collaborating with domain experts, entrepreneurs, and others to explore blockchain-based programs that will make tomorrow’s financial systems more flexible, transparent, efficient and secure,” the unit said. 

Fidelity said it was the first financial services firm to join the initiative.

Blockchain technology, a virtual distributed ledger of transactions shared peer-to-peer, can record ownership across a public network of computers rendered tamper-proof by advanced cryptography. It is already known as the platform for the controversial digital currency bitcoin. 

The technology is causing a stir within the financial services sector as its supporters believe it could reduce hidden expenses in the financial system by ousting inefficiencies across areas such as payments, syndicated loans and equity clearing.

Fidelity said it expected the outcomes of its work with IC3 to include new blockchain and smart contract technologies “that are secure, incrementally deployable, and efficient to meet the industry's needs”. 

“Emerging digital assets, smart contracts, and other blockchain-based applications have the potential to transform financial services in the future - potentially altering the industry landscape and status quo,” Fidelity Labs said.