The firm spearheading an international blockchain consortium comprised of various banking behemoths, regulators and financial technology companies has reportedly asked Sri Lanka's central bank to join the syndicate.

New York-based start-up R3's consortium already has more than 80 fee-paying members, including Singapore's financial regulator, one of Hong Kong's regulators and South Korea's central bank.

Now, according to media reports, the firm has invited Sri Lanka's central bank to join it and the consortium's members in the creation of blockchain-based technology that could streamline certain financial service operations.

Niki Ariyasinghe, the project strategy director at R3, reportedly said: “The meeting with Sri Lanka's central bank was about developments in blockchain technology, what R3 is doing, and we also extended an invitation to the central bank if they would like to join. From a regulatory perspective, there are no charges or anything like that because we want them involved.

“We had a very positive discussion with the central bank governor and we will follow up in the coming weeks.”

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 in the financial services sector as its supporters believe that it could reduce hidden expenses in the financial system by making payments, syndicated loans and equity clearing more efficient.

But last November, a raft of big banks that included Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Santander and National Australia Bank abandoned R3's consortium before the first round of funding began.

R3 lowered the initial amount it aimed to raise through its first round of equity funding from $200 million to $150 million. The firm planned to give members a 60 per cent equity stake in exchange for the capital.

Last year, a source close to the process at Goldman Sachs told WealthBriefing, our sister publication, that the group had become “saturated” very quickly as new members poured in, thereby blocking progress.