Deutsche Boerse Establishes Centrally-Steered Unit Dedicated to Blockchain, Crypto Assets

Germany’s joint stock company Deutsche Boerse (DB) has established a dedicated unit for blockchain and crypto assets, Finextra reported September 3.

The newly established “DLT, Crypto Assets and New Market Structures” unit will comprise a 24-person team led by Jens Hachmeister, and will explore the disruptive potential the technology could have for financial markets infrastructure, as well as the new products DB could develop to enhance its existing offerings. As Hachmeister outlined:

"Deutsche Boerse has been active with the technology in a first phase of ideation and exploration [...] However, these explorative steps have not been coordinated on a group-wide level. In order to use the full potential of the technology for our businesses, to generate efficiencies and create revenues, a centrally steered approach is necessary.”

Hachmeister noted that blockchain could innovate and streamline many traditional segments across DB’s value chain, including functions such as pre-IPO listing, trading and clearing, settlement and custody, and could even be of service for DB’s financial data and analytics arm.

He conceded that while “blockchain will not be the answer to all our questions,” “expectations are high,” and that DB’s move is driven by shifting currents in the financial landscape:

“The digital economy in general is heading for decentralisation. In [the] future, there will be more peer-to-peer governed marketplaces and less intermediaries. In that regard, blockchain has the potential to disrupt the capital markets infrastructure."

As Cointelegraph reported recently, DB has recently made a million euro investment to become a minority shareholder in blockchain-based liquidity provider HQLAx. The fresh investment followed the two parties’ joint initiative this March to develop a blockchain-based securities lending platform using R3 Consortium’s Corda platform.