On Wednesday, the Swiss fintech firm and infrastructure provider, Taurus, unveiled Taurus-NETWORK, an innovative interbank platform designed to connect financial institutions across the globe. This ambitious initiative aims to foster seamless collaboration on digital assets and unlock a variety of new use cases, including collateralized lending, real-time settlement, and operational automation, all while significantly reducing counterparty risk.

Taurus-NETWORK is specifically built for the clients of Taurus-PROTECT, the company’s institutional-grade custody solution. With this new platform, a permissioned ecosystem of regulated institutions is created, allowing secure interactions among participants without the need to depend on third parties for processing or unwinding transactions. This development is crucial as it ensures that institutions maintain greater control over their assets.

“Network participants retain control of their assets and never rely on Taurus to enter or unwind transactions,” stated Vassili Lavrov, Taurus's head of product infrastructure, in a release shared with The Block.

Currently, the network boasts participation from over 35 institutions spanning 10 countries. It is designed to empower its members to retain full control of their digital assets while collaborating across various jurisdictions, all in compliance with local regulatory requirements. Among the founding members of the Taurus-NETWORK at launch are notable entities such as Arab Bank Switzerland, Capital Union Bank, Flowdesk, ISP Group, Misyon Bank, and Swissquote.

The company has announced that further features and partnerships will be disclosed throughout 2025, indicating an ongoing commitment to innovation. Founded in April 2018, Taurus is recognized as a leading global provider of enterprise-grade digital asset infrastructure, which includes services like custody, tokenization, and trading. The company has established solid relationships with major institutions, including Deutsche Bank, State Street, and the entity formerly known as Credit Suisse, which played a significant role in leading Taurus's $65 million Series B funding round prior to its acquisition by UBS.

Yann Isola, Taurus's head of product financial services, emphasized the importance of this network, stating, “Taurus-NETWORK is a pivotal milestone in Taurus' mission to reshape the digital asset industry. By uniting institutions and facilitating secure, efficient, and automated operations, we are unlocking new opportunities for growth and innovation. This is just the beginning as we plan to release innovative solutions regularly.”

The Taurus-NETWORK introduces a collateral management system enabling members to pledge funds or assets for instant credit within the network. This facilitates banks’ participation in syndicated loans while allowing exchanges to implement off-exchange trading processes without needing to move funds outside of their Taurus-PROTECT setup. The settlement speed is further optimized across both fiat and blockchain rails, thanks to an advanced orchestration engine.

Moreover, compliance and regulatory checks are integrated into the platform. The Taurus-NETWORK supports the automatic enforcement of crucial measures such as the travel rule, proof-of-reserves, and ownership verification, significantly alleviating manual compliance workloads. The platform also automates more than 90% of typical operational tasks, including identity management and address whitelisting, which allows for instant transaction confirmation and cryptographic proof of identity.

Participants are able to interact directly from their individual Taurus-PROTECT custody instances, ensuring seamless integration regardless of underlying infrastructure.

Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor in The Block. Foresight Ventures also invests in other companies within the crypto space, including the crypto exchange Bitget, which is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. Despite these affiliations, The Block continues to operate independently to provide objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry.

© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.