Corporate Insight today released a study examining the current state of Blockchain in financial services and the potential impact of this technology on the industry. The report, titled Blockchain Solutions and the Future of Finance, identifies major trends affecting Blockchain implementation, profiles organizations that are creating Blockchain solutions for financial services, and illustrates potential use cases for the technology including loyalty programs, capital markets, real estate transactions, Know Your Customer, digital identity management, cross-border payments and the commodity market.
“In the past two years, financial services firms and technology providers have made significant strides in turning the hype around Blockchain into reality,” said Jennifer Butler, Analyst at Corporate Insight. “Financial services firms are investing in Blockchain to assess its potential for reducing operational inefficiencies and increasing market transparency. While the near-term industry impact of Blockchain will be evolutionary rather than revolutionary, we expect these investments to continue and for Blockchain-driven change to occur incrementally over the next few years.”
For the study, Corporate Insight interviewed representatives from 14 key organizations and leaders in the Blockchain space to gather insights on their products and solutions, current or future partnerships, industry challenges and thoughts on the future of Blockchain.
Key findings from the study include:
- Nine out of 14 Blockchain vendors profiled in this study are set to bring Blockchain solutions into production between now and early 2018.
- Some elements of Blockchain technology present unique challenges for financial institutions. For example, if a person mistakenly purchases a large quantity of securities, the immutability of a Blockchain would make it challenging to fix the error. To account for this, Blockchain providers are focused on developing solutions to resolve these and other industry-specific challenges.
- Companies are also finding innovative solutions for non-financial use cases. For example, BlockCypher has partnered with ShoCard, a Blockchain startup developing digital identity solutions, and the Department of Homeland Security to help solve identity management challenges and enhance cybersecurity. The development of this use case is complementary to financial services, as it could help to alleviate aspects of the onerous Know Your Customer compliance process.
For more information, to receive a copy of the report or to schedule an interview, please contact:
Joshua Grandy
646-876-7524
[email protected]
