A new detailed report issued by the World Economic Forum (WEF) on the future infrastructure of banking has found that blockchain will play an integral part with 80pc of banks expected to be using it as early as next year.
The blockchain technology that has defined how the cryptocurrency bitcoin operates is emerging from its once-niche use to defining the future of banking and multiple other industries.
In the WEF’s latest report on the infrastructure of banking, the organisation specifically discussed distributed ledger technology (DLT) as being the key technology that will emerge from the blockchain revolution.
$1.4bn in research over past three years
Based on the findings of hundreds of the world’s leading figures in the financial sector, the report has determined that by 2017, 80pc of banks will begin initiating DLT projects with nearly 100 corporations having already joined blockchain consortia.
This is down to the fact that over the past three years, over $1.4bn in venture capital has been pumped into developing DLT helping researchers file over 2,500 patents for advanced blockchain technology.
Suggesting three areas of banking that will be fundamentally challenged by DLT and blockchain include the cumbersome process of international payments and wire transfers; the repackaging of mortgages – that led to the 2008 economic crisis –; and compliance reporting of banks to regulators.
Growing trust from banks
Discussions surrounding the potential importance of blockchain technology might not come as a surprise to those within the fintech sector with groups like PwC having already issued a glowing reporton the future of blockchain technology. Read more…
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