While it is often reported that “banks are embracing the blockchain”, such terminology often obscures the wide range of financial institutions that are actively testing the emerging technology. For example, the DTCC, a major US clearing house that facilitates quadrillions of dollars in annual transactions, and global credit card processing network Visa are just a few of the most notable non-banks to launch pilot projects. That said, some financial sectors are certainly more active than others.
Major stock and commodities exchanges have arguably been among the more active in seeking to investigate blockchain through trials and investments. Major US stock exchange provider Nasdaq, for instance, even launched a blockchain prototype last fall.
Called Linq , it facilitates the trading and tracking of shares in private companies, and is envisioned as an early experiment in how blockchain could expand the reach of major stock exchanges to new asset classes.
Though the use cases vary, 10 major stock and commodities exchanges have so far voiced their enthusiasm for the technology.
Here’s our complete list below: 1. Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)
ASX has been one of the most ambitious firms when it comes to blockchain applications, investing more than $10m in industry startup Digital Asset Holdings in January as part of its R&D efforts.
In conjunction with its investment, ASX also revealed it would seek to go beyond trials of the technology, building a new post-trade settlement system to be developed by Digital Asset using a distributed ledger architecture.
Since January, however, updates on the project have perhaps been overshadowed by controversies at ASX. In March, Australia-based news outlets began speculating that the blockchain project could be in doubt following the untimely resignation of CEO Elmer Funke Kupper, though ASX has since reaffirmed its support for the trial.Other anecdotal evidence suggests that ASX may not be as well-informed […]
