Chainlink reports that the Common Business-Oriented Language (COBOL) standard powers roughly 95% of all ATM transactions.
The “Chainlink Runtime Environment”—a standard framework for integrating blockchain protocols and smart contracts with legacy institutions, payment systems, and traditional financial architecture—was unveiled by Oracle provider Chainlink as part of a single, cohesive ecosystem.
The runtime framework previously established by the Common Business-Oriented Language (COBOL) standard, a programming language developed in 1959 that made electronic banking and automated teller machines (ATMs) possible, will be included in the their unified Runtime Environment.
The Java Runtime Environment (JRE) architecture, which was initially created in the 1990s and has since taken over online banking applications, will also be replaced by the Chainlink Runtime Environment.
The Oracle provider clarified in a release on November 16 that the ultimate objective of the unified design was to simplify and optimize the user experience by abstracting away the difficulties of managing hundreds of distinct financial systems.
Chainlink Integrates Traditional Finance Into Blockchain
Several innovations aimed at bringing conventional financial institutions and companies onchain coincide with their suggested unified architecture.
They announced an integration with the SWIFT interbank messaging protocol at the SWIFT International Banking Operations Seminar (SIBOS) in October 2024.
This integration would enable conventional financial institutions to communicate with blockchain systems through SWIFT messages.
Additionally, the Oracle provider unveiled several privacy-enhancing tools for organizations and enterprises, such as the Chainlink Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) Private Transactions option and the Blockchain Privacy Manager.
A key and frequently disregarded feature of enterprise-grade blockchain systems is privacy, which keeps companies from conducting business on extremely open public networks for fear of disclosing private information or trade secrets.
To bring important company data onchain and offer a precise, real-time, impenetrable record of corporate operations like proof-of-reserves, they are also working with fusing artificial intelligence and oracles.
Chainlink more recently revealed in November 2024 that a trial venture with Swiss financial behemoth UBS and SWIFT had come to an end.
The pilot initiative allowed legacy financial institutions to engage with the digital economy without the use of cryptocurrency and tested tokenized fund settlements between parties.