Blockchain technology has well and truly hit Australian shores in recent years, with the Australian Stock Exchange set to become the world’s first blockchain/distributed ledger technology enabled stock exchange.
Blockchain technology has well and truly hit Australian shores in recent years, with the Australian Stock Exchange set to become the world’s first blockchain/distributed ledger technology (DLT) enabled stock exchange.
More than a dozen blockchain-focused companies have already made their way to the public market via the ASX, with the latest blockchain adopter being none other than ASX Limited (ASX: ASX) itself.
Small Caps first reported on the ASX’s intended move into blockchain in December last year, with the past eight months delivering amiable market conditions for the ASX to prepare its trailblazing technology that has yet to be implemented by any other exchange, including US and European giants such as the NYSE, LSE and Euronext.
However, US-based NASDAQ, the NYSE, the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Deutsche Bourse and India’s Securities Exchange Board have all made tentative first steps into the world of blockchain by settling an initial trickle of trades to trial the technology, or, have appointed commissions to study the feasibility of using blockchain in future.
To see what blockchain technology is capable of, one need only turn to finance, supply-chain management, record keeping and cryptocurrencies to name just a few industries that have been bolstered by its introduction in recent years.
Blockchain is not just a means of supporting crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum – the technology has the potential to revolutionise any marketplace it touches, streamline the way financial data is stored and transmitted between market participants and last but not least, secure the stability of trading venues that struggle to deal with fluctuations in market activity.
ASX to the rescue?
Speaking at the ASX Ltd’s annual financial results conference this week, managing director and current chief executive officer Dominic Stevens said that the ASX is “safely liberating the source of truth information in real-time” such that it can be used by participants and other providers to build new services across the value chain.
As part of a concerted move, ASX says it is on course to implement DLT that will reduce the risk, cost and complexity of Australia’s stock market, prepare it for cutting-edge service innovation, and, ultimately, unleash service innovation across an ecosystem of interconnected users.
If that wasn’t enough, the ASX says its blockchain-powered DLT technology will remove the need for periodic reconciliation altogether by allowing market participants to obtain precise real-time market information “without having to ask the ASX”.
Source/More: ASX looks to unleash blockchain technology on the Australian stock market
