Blockchain Startup Symbiont Teams with Wall Street Legend Ranieri

The company founded by the "Father" of the mortgage-backed securities market has partnered with blockchain startup Symbiont with the aim of shaking up the mortgage industry.

Ranieri Solutions was created by Lewis Ranieri - a former Salomon Brothers bond trader who pioneered the development and use of mortgage-backed securities back in the 1970s - and will now work with Symbiont's smart contracts platform, Assembly.

Ranieri, who declined to be interviewed for this article, said in a statement last week that the mortgage market "Continues to lag behind from a technological standpoint creating inefficiencies that impact mortgage loans throughout their lifecycle."

"By partnering with Symbiont, a proven blockchain pioneer, Ranieri Solutions believes that together we can implement this transformative technology to bring necessary efficiencies, transparency, and security to the mortgage markets," he went on to say.

Mark Smith, Symbiont's CEO, said in an interview Friday that the mortgage market "Lends itself perfectly to a blockchain solution."

He went on to argue that Symbiont's platform could allow mortgages to be grouped into "Very transparent pools that can be securitized."

Ranieri was among those blamed for setting the stage for that crisis.

"What should have occurred was a breaking up of that concentration through decentralization. Blockchain and smart contract technology is really the first opportunity to embrace decentralization that provides the same type of efficiency [as] traditional markets," he told CoinDesk.

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies.

CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.