Although the concept of blockchain is promising, the introduction of the technology is still a long way off as many issues still need solving, according to currency experts. Speaking at the IPE Conference, Martijn Vos, managing director of pensions and insurance at Ortec Finance, said he “strongly believed” in the technology.
However, it couldn’t take off until legislation had been put in place before, for example, governance and data gathering could be set up, he argued.
He emphasised that blockchain’s introduction would be a global issue and a matter for central banks’ policy.
In Vos’ opinion, however, currency trading could be one of the first sectors to benefit from blockchain technology, “as its very liquid market would make it easy to record transactions”. The same went for liquid equity trading, he said.
Tibor Gergely, director of FX eCommerce at UniCredit, argued that the technology was ready to enable quick cross-border payments.
In his opinion, the problem was more about which system to adopt, given the multitude of providers.
Guy Coughlan, chief risk officer at the UK’s Universities Superannuation Scheme, echoed Vos’s view that the jury was still out concerning how the technology would work in practice and how legislation would develop.
“The real challenge is to convince the financial community to use it, and that the benefits outweigh the risks,” he said, adding that trust, transparency and accountability were crucial.
He noted that he hadn’t noticed significant progress from other new technologies, such as artificial intelligence and robotics, as tools to solve other problems such as engaging with pension savers.
Full news
© IPE International Publishers Ltd.
Key
Hover over the blue highlighted
text to view the acronym meaning
Hover
over these icons for more information
Comments:
No Comments for this Article