Settlement experts predict three possible fates for blockchain at Consensus 2016

Baozou Shizun : Blockchain technology has three fates: get rid of middlemen; let market participants own the technology; just hype. By comparing the dismal response of the financial industry to the Internet and the enthusiastic response to blockchain technology, it is known that the possibility of blockchain being hype is not high. If traditional financial institutions do not adjust their business models in time, they are likely to be replaced by other market participants using blockchain technology.

Translation: Nicole

Two global banking leaders, a blockchain consortium and a newly formed dedicated trust company, came together at the Consensus 2016 conference in New York to discuss the future of blockchain in global financial institutions.

Edited by Matthew Bishop, economics editor of The Economist, who led the panel, the panel discussed three possible futures for blockchain technology, asking the panel to discuss the fate of distributed ledgers.

Bishop revealed that he believes blockchain technology can “get rid of a lot of the middlemen” and allow market participants to own the technology or it’s just hype.

Chris Church, former SWIFT US CEO and current business developer at Digital Asset Holdings (DAH), said there is too much hype around blockchain technology, but he said he does not believe it is just hype and that blockchain is real.

Chris Church

Church said:

“Where there is wind there is no wave.”

He told the 1,200-strong audience that while blockchain technology was not intended to “destroy this or that financial institution,” it had the power to upend entire industries, as some predicted.

More than just hype

Not surprisingly, most panelists did not think blockchain technology was “just hype.”

Brad Peterson, who came to the Nasdaq Stock Exchange from Charles Schwab, told the audience that blockchain will prove to be more than just hype in five years. He compared the financial industry's dismal response to the Internet with its enthusiastic response to blockchain technology, adding that financial institutions will not be as slow to adopt new technologies as before.

Sandra Ro, head of digitalization at CME Group, responded to the three fates of blockchain:

Market participants that quickly adopt blockchain technology will "grow rapidly", while other participants that do not use blockchain will disappear and new market participants will take their place.

Charles Cascarilla

Charles Cascarilla, CEO and founder of blockchain financial services company itBit, struck a balance, saying:

“There are three possible fates for blockchain.”

For Cascarilla, blockchain technology may be caught in a deep hype cycle at the moment, but it can still eliminate middlemen like traditional financial institutions if they don’t adjust their business models in a timely manner that threatens their business.