Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) to Start Using Blockchain Settlements by 2021

Australia’s most important stock exchange operator will start to use blockchain technology for settlements in 3 years. The information has been released by Bloomberg on October 24 explaining that the technology will be implemented in 2021.

Distributed ledger technology will be replacing the current CHESS system that ASX Ltd. is currently using.

Peter Hiom, deputy chief executive officer, explained that the new version will not have a radically different approach. Instead, it will be improving efficiency as a database architecture. He explained that it works very well and it is a clever architecture, but it is just a database, not more than that.

About the way in which the technology works, Hiom said:

“There is a blockchain that is synchronizing my data store with yours, but the data store itself is a database that exists today. It’s actually taken an awful lot of risk and cost out of your back office because it is never the case that what you’ve got doesn’t match what I’ve got.”

The company based in Sydney is one of the best that will be implementing distributed ledger technology (DLT) to improve its services. Australian Stock Exchange ASX will be will be replacing its equities clearing and settlements system.

There are other companies and institutions that are implementing blockchain technology in order to improve their services, especially to simplify stock issuance and trading. According to Bloomberg, Canada’s central bank, the stock exchange operator TMX Group and the nation’s payment system used DLT tp clear and settle securities. This initiative was part of the Project Jasper.

Other banks and companies have embraced DLT to process faster payments and reduce costs. An important company offering these services is Ripple, which has already connected hundreds of different banks from all over the world.