Hyperledger’s Sizzle Cools As Members Downgrade Memberships

Hyperledger, the blockchain consortium, has seen more than 15 members either reduce their financial stake in the group or quit during the course of the past few months, reported Reuters.

Citing documents seen by the news agency, Reuters reported that CME Group and Deutsche Börse, the two exchange operators, have chosen to downgrade their membership in Hyperledger next year. The information came from slides used during a board meeting late last week that were titled “member attrition.”

The consortium, which is headed up by The Linux Foundation, was launched in 2015 with the goal of developing blockchain technology that would be used by businesses. CME and Deutsche Börse are going from premier membership to general membership. Premier gets a member board seat, but they pay a $250,000 fee each year. General membership goes from $5,000 to $50,000 depending on the size of the company.

In a written statement to Reuters, Hyperledger executive director Brian Behlendorf said the consortium has seen great growth in 2017. “We have seen some members who were part of the initial December 2015 cohort shift their spending priorities but remain members of the organization,” Behlendorf said. “We have seen others who never really engaged decide not to renew. This is normal and expected.” Hyperledger has 180 members, 18 of which will be Premier status as of the end of January.

Blockchain is getting a lot of attention from big companies that are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into the technology, with hopes of making their record-keeping processes easier and less expensive. The moves by CME and Deutsche Börse underscore a shift on the part of big businesses to be more selective in what they do with blockchain efforts. JPMorgan left R3, another consortium, earlier this year, following on the heels of Goldman Sachs and Banco Santander, among others, reported Reuters.