Blockchain is a shared ledger-technology, which is also the base for the digital currency Bitcoin. It makes the financial markets nervous because it means a profound change for banks.
The question is why?
Blockchain has the potential to transform business models, to connect counterparties in a new way and to achieve a considerable increase in efficiency. Transactions based on CryptoFinance are handled directly between payer and recipients, which changes the role of intermediaries. The latest study shows that the traditional finance institutes risk to be replaced by agile FinTech start-ups if they not use the chances of this new technology. According the study they would profit from a considerable cost and time savings in handling of securities and derivates. BearingPoint Institute says that they could shorten the average processing time for transactions from 24 hours to 0.1 seconds. At the same time, the average cost of today would drop from € 40 per transaction to only € 5.
Various industry figures show that, by 2022, the technology could achieve savings of 13 to 18 billion euros a year in the banking infrastructure as Blockchain optimizes cross-border payments, trading in securities and meeting regulatory requirements.
In the light of this above it is not surprising that the latest survey from IBM predicts that 65% of large global banks will use Blockchain technology within the next three years.
How do you see the future of Blockchain?