Bank of England on Distributed ledger and securities settlement

in distributed •  7 years ago  (edited)

Bank of England release the Staff Working Paper No. 670 on distributed ledger and securities settlement.
The Bank of England states that “the current industrial structure of securities settlement appears to be inefficient and while distributed ledger technology (DLT) has the potential to eliminate some of these inefficiencies”. At the same time a potential concentration of few providers in securities settlement industry is viewed as a reason to regulate the market.
Bank of England agrees that “a DL solution could facilitate direct ownership, reducing legal and operational risks and intermediation costs for the investors. It could also increase transparency, as investors could have direct access to their holdings and issuers could keep track of beneficial owners”.
“An important issue that needs to be addressed is whether a DL entry can legally constitute proof of ownership”.
http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/research/Documents/workingpapers/2017/swp670.pdf

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Interesting, thanks for sharing. I think it reflects the general tune banks and governments are singing towards cryptos and blockchain tech. They see its benefits but immediately try to figure out a way to clamp it down and hold on to their power. China's talk of a potential goverment-run crypto is an example.

Sure. It is a big trend. Touching China and Russia, they are going to put the blockchain network under dogmatic robust control. According to drafts all intermediaries need to get license or approval including advertising agency.

Every time a democratic, open technology starts to tear at the power structures, they always find a way to suppress it. I think though that with cryptos it's only going to be partial, if they regulate too strongly they will only create a black market. Everyone can see how great the party is, there's no way people will stay away.