Blockchain is popularly known as the technology underpinning bitcoin, but more and more institutions are looking at the technology for other uses.

Last week, reports surfaced that several big banks including Citigroup, Credit Suisse Group AG and HSBC Holdings PLC have started testing the blockchain technology to share trade reference data “more accurately and efficiently.”

In Japan, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) recently partnered with tech giant IBM to examine the design, management and execution of contracts using blockchain technologies. The first pilot projects will automate business transactions between the two companies.

The project is built on the Hyperledger Project fabric, which is an open-source blockchain platform that can be used for real-life contract management on the IBM Cloud.