Blockchain: Foundational Change in the Financial Services Ecosystem

While the initial frenzy in digital currency was around bitcoin, the financial and technology communities started to see that blockchain, the underlying platform, might have real potential as a means of securely transferring value independent of bitcoin. Now, blockchain technology is seen as a revolutionary tool that has potential across the financial ecosystem as well as in other areas where it can help realize greater operational efficiency and transparency.  

For the select group of blockchain platform vendors, the cumulative third-party investment for the 2013-to-2016 period totals US$457 million. In 2017, we are likely to see fewer but larger investments totaling US$399 million go to firms with good chances of reaching broad scale.

Amid the buzz surrounding blockchain technology, business leaders face a steep challenge selecting the foundational blockchain platform upon which they will build smart contracts and their own business layer. The field of these new platforms is packed and getting more crowded, while important elements of distributed ledger architecture are also changing. How to keep up with this fast-moving technology?

Aite Group has been following bitcoin and blockchain for several years, and reports have been written around several blockchain touch points and use cases. Blockchain is challenging the status quo within the financial services industry, and Aite Group analysts have spent countless hours researching and advising clients so that they can make informed decisions on how to appropriately deal with blockchain technology to future-proof their business.

Aite Group’s Blockchain Compendium is a direct result of those efforts and provides in-depth information and analysis around business scenarios and tangible use cases across the following financial services segments: 
 

• Capital markets
• Wealth management
• Retail banking and payments
• Wholesale banking and payments
• Insurance

The Blockchain Compendium provides a central source for all things blockchain in financial services, functioning as a living document with additional contributions from Aite Group analysts added as new reports come out and the space evolves. Blockchain is changing our professions and the industry; it’s essential to understand how and why this is happening. To gain access to Aite Group's Blockchain Compendium, please contact us at blockchain@aitegroup.com.

 

Meet Our Expert Team of Blockchain Analysts

 

                                                                                   

         Gwenn Bézard              Enrico Camerinelli            Virginie O'Shea                  Javier Paz                  Thad Peterson                Gabriel Wang

 

Related Research: 

• Blockchain in Insurance: A Vendor Overview, April 2017.
• Digital Person-to-Person Payments in the U.S.: A Strong Growth Game, March 2017.
• Is Blockchain a Good Fit?: A Disciplined Approach in Post Trade, March 2017.
• Top 10 Capital Markets Chaintech Platforms: Securities Settlement in Focus, March 2017.
• ASX, Nasdaq, Overstock, and the Charting of Distinct Blockchain Roadmaps, December 2016.

View additional blockchain reports here.

 

Webinars:

• Accelerate Blockchain Platform Due Dilligence - Javier Paz
• Blockchain in Capital Markets: Lessons Learned and Next Steps - Gabriel Wang

 

Press Releases:

• http://www.aitegroup.com/blockchain-good-fit-disciplined-approach-post-trade
• http://www.aitegroup.com/blockchain-supply-chain-what-corporations-want
• http://www.aitegroup.com/press-release-building-business-cases-distributed-ledger-technology-things-know
• http://www.aitegroup.com/press-release-blockchain-business-scenarios

 

For additional information about our blockchain research and consulting services, including our new Blockchain Compendium, please contact us at blockchain@aitegroup.com.