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Blockchain/distributed ledger technology A game changer for the financial markets
Blockchain technology, also called distributed ledger technology, facilitates a number of innovations in the financial services sector. A distributed ledger is a public, decentralised account book originally developed as the technological foundation of the virtual currency bitcoin. In digital payment and business transactions, blockchain can be used to record transactions directly between users.
The financial sector quickly realised the large number of possible applications and blockchain’s potential to increase efficiency. A number of initiatives are currently exploring and specifying blockchain’s broad scope of application. Deutsche Börse has already invested in the development and introduction of state-of-the-art services using blockchain.
The activities include the development of a blockchain solution for cross-border securities transfer in cooperation with the Liquidity Alliance as well as the development of a functioning prototype for the blockchain-based settlement of securities transactions in cooperation with Deutsche Bundesbank, Germany’s central bank. Moreover, DB1 Ventures, Deutsche Börse’s corporate venture capital arm, has acquired a minority stake – with a seat on the Board of Directors – in Digital Asset Holdings LLC, a New York-based company developing blockchain-based software, mainly for financial intermediaries. Deutsche Börse is also a general member of the Linux Foundation’s Hyperledger project.
Deutsche Börse established a new area “DLT, Crypto Assets and New Market Structures” that will focus on the further development of a Group-wide approach.