Experts Cite Specialization as Key to Blockchain’s Incorporation Into Financial Services

Four experts discussed the future blockchain in financial services, agreeing on the importance of specialization in a panel on crypto derivatives at Synchronise Europe in London today, June 18.

Some of the original conceptualisation of blockchain needs to be available publically to be materially modified to suit the needs of diverse financial services, said Kelly Mathieson, head of enterprise solutions at Digital Asset.

Mathieson argued that enterprise grade versions of blockchain technology are now viable, and that there has been a divergence from the original blockchain concept. Those versions of blockchain are needed to be changed in a way that would enable them to fit for purpose, and in some cases to be legal in certain jurisdictions, she said.

Mathieson further addressed the issue of general purpose language for smart contracts, stating:

“There has begun a shift away from general purpose language for uses in smart contracts, where we really want to begin to model and represent the legal definition and the market rules. Many of these early languages put all the data out there and then attempted to express financial services entitlements by either imposing confidentiality on it or obfuscation.”

Clive Ansell, head of market infrastructure and technology at ISDA, agreed that the development of blockchain-based solutions needs community engagement with real business challenges.  He said that it is necessary to create an environment that allows firms not to vary their smart contracts unless they really have to.

Lee Braine, Investment Bank CTO Office at Barclays, further argued that the process of standardization will ensure long-term viability. Industry players should purportedly define what they have done for their latest technological refresh.

Executive director at UBS, Yunqinq Zheng said that the active DApp ecosystem will appear once everyone is digitized and standardized, highlighting the importance of cultural and mindset transformation.

Earlier in June, Hester Peirce, commissioner at the Security and Exchange Commission’s (SEC), commented on the SEC’s approach towards this category of highly regulated financial derivatives, noting that the SEC is “still smothering ETFs with personalised attention as if they were infants.”