PassOn and Synechron Partner to Bring Asset Inheritances into Digital Age

PassOn, a Swiss start-up incorporated in the heart of Switzerland’s Crypto Valley in Zug specializing in the transfer of digital assets as part of inheritances, and Synechron, Inc. announced the successful completion of a succession-planning application based on Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) capable of doing on-chain-transmission of blockchain-based assets. This development marks the completion of the first phase of the solution.

Through the partnership, PassOn has drawn on Synechron and its proven digital, user experience, blockchain, and fintech consulting expertise to create a Minimum Viable Product (MVP).

PassOn is now working with Synechron to move on to phase two of the initiative, which includes the development of a production-ready wallet and Application Program Interfaces (APIs) for integration of Business to Business (B2B) clients and exchanges.

PassOn uses the blockchain to track, store and exchange ownership rights and define succession triggers. For traditional assets, such as financial instruments or life insurances, which too often end up as dormant accounts or as unclaimed insurances, PassOn uses the blockchain to pre-register and maintain assets through a notarized environment with heirs/beneficiaries and patrimony.

By collaborating with regulators, infrastructure providers, lawyers, and notaries, PassOn aims to create the first, fully-regulated blockchain inheritance ecosystem, visible to the authorities and transparent to all stakeholders. PassOn plans to address the alarming absence of a solution to transmit digital assets easily, while at the same time to leverage inherent blockchain functionality to transform existing processes surrounding succession planning.

Synechron has worked with PassOn to support this DLT-enabled vision, with its creation of a digital, DLT application (DApp) interacting with the PassOn Smart Contract on the Ethereum blockchain. During phase two of the project, Synechron will continue to collaborate with PassOn to develop the Wallet and enable PassOn APIs offering B2B & B2B2C integration capabilities.

Synechron was chosen for this project for its strategic ‘Power of 3’ capabilities, a unique pairing digital, business consulting, and technology capabilities, and its industry-leading work with financial operators such as SIX – which owns and manages the Swiss Stock Exchange – and a key partner of PassOn after their partial acquisition of PassOn in October 2018.

“As a blockchain startup, we realized quickly one of our biggest challenges would be to find the right skillsets to support our growth ambitions. The partnership with Synechron allows us to source the best expertise during the ramp-up phase and to quickly scale integration capabilities to respond to the growing demand for our technology in the B2B/B2B2C space. We also felt it was important to partner with someone capable of helping us navigate the complex, fast-evolving and sometimes still immature world of Blockchain technology. Synechron has gathered significant expertise shaping the digital strategy of top-tier financial institutions in the permission-based blockchain space. The road ahead will require us to solve many technological challenges, and we are delighted to have Synechron at our side to support us on that journey,” Stephan Wippermann, CEO of PassOn commented.

“The completion of the first phase for PassOn and Synechron reaffirms our confidence in both organisations as our key partners in defining future solutions to very real emerging challenges. As new, digital assets gain market share, it’s essential for us as an industry to focus on ensuring clear ownership and the transmission of that ownership to protect asset holders through a proper infrastructure, strong governance and robust solutions. PassOn is an innovative company solving a real challenge – asset inheritance – in the digital age,” said Valerio Roncone, Head Future Business at SIX Securities & Exchanges, and PassOn, Board Member.

Laurent Salvinien, Managing Director at Synechron, stated, “Today’s investors are demanding mobile-first and self-service digital applications and are looking outside of the financial services industry at new business models that are encroaching into the traditional investment sphere. PassOn has created an incredibly compelling solution that bridges the fintech crypto world with traditional finance markets all while creating a value-added service for today’s digital assets and tomorrow’s world of tokenized assets. Synechron is proud to partner with PassOn to achieve that vision and to help financial institutions accelerate their digital initiatives.”