Blockchain is now the focus of the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) as it becomes the latest major stock platform to experiment with Hyperledger.

In a partnership with IBM announced this week, the LSEG will create a Blockchain platform designed for digitally issuing shares of Italian companies.

The platform is under development by the Group’s Italian arm Borsa Italiana and will focus on “small and medium enterprises in Italy,” Reuters reports.

"As these companies grow they will be better at interacting with their shareholders," David Harris, head of emerging technology at LSEG told the publication.

Hyperledger Fabric will form the basis of the platform, with the product having received its initial mainstream release last week. Despite still being a work in progress, considerable added functionality is set to appear in the months and years to come.

An initial “test phase with a small group of clients and partners” will preclude the full roll-out, Reuters adds.

Hyperledger has formed the core of IBM’s Blockchain product since its inception last year, with multiple use cases lined up involving some of the world’s biggest multinational corporations.