Unfinished Business

SmartStream and WatersTechnology surveyed a diverse mix of personnel at leading investment banks, asset managers, exchange operators and technology firms to assess the industry’s state of readiness around DLTs and identify the significant challenges to adoption still at hand.

A pervasive idea about disruptive new technologies coming to financial services is the potential change foreshadowed for institutions’ technological processes in addition to changes to technology itself. Many contemporary financial technology­—known as “fintech”—debutants innately lend themselves to infrastructural decentralization, open-source coding practices and reliance upon automation—or artificial intelligence—in spots that may have previously seemed uncomfortable. A cultural revolution is implicit in their design—which has proven exhilarating for some, and augurs a reluctant, close-your-eyes and cross-your-fingers plunge for others.

Exciting as these developments are, economic history also demonstrates that before technology paradigms fully shift, transitional work is required. Tough collective—and often less heralded—efforts must come first in terms of standardization and interoperability, while creating opportunities for willing incumbents to contribute and adapt is equally important.

 

Download the SmartStream white paper Unfinished Business—Measuring Blockchain’s Financial Services Benefits and Mapping Its Future

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