World’s Fourth-Largest Stock Exchange Eyes Blockchain Use in Securities Transactions

The world’s fourth-largest stock exchange released plans to use so-called distributed ledger technology (DLT) in securities transactions July 10.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), which as of December 2017 had a market cap in excess of $5 tln, said in a report that “most people” consider that blockchain technology can “help improve the transparency of the securities industry.”

“Part of the market is now starting to adopt this technology in part, and larger-scale industry applications will do so after a few years,” the institution wrote in introductory remarks.

While China’s ban on cryptocurrency innovations such as Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and free trading continue, authorities have made increasingly concerted efforts to corner blockchain development this year.

Official ratings of both cryptoassets and blockchain projects were released in May and June, while domestic standards for the technology’s implementation should appear in 2019.

Securities trading meanwhile is firmly within the sights of international players, Santander this week revealing a dedicated research team to investigate how blockchain could update its own securities handling.