Deutsche Börse Group announced the creation of a new 24-person team called the “DLT, Crypto Assets and New Market Structures”. Most recently the group partnered with HQLAX for a securities lending solution and invested in the startup. Apart from that, the Deutsche Börse blockchain involvement has mainly been at the exploration level whereas now they’re shifting to revenue generation mode.
The team is headed by Jens Hachmeister who says the initiative is part of the group’s “Roadmap 2020” which focuses on four tech areas: cloud, big data & analytics, AI, and DLT.
He commented: “Looking at the pace of technological progress and the transformational potential that lies in Blockchain, we probably stand at the beginning of a new era that could be disruptive for the whole industry.”
“The challenge is that we don’t exactly know where this will lead to. The possibilities this new technology offers, are fascinating and it is great to have the opportunity to hopefully make significant contributions.”
While Hachmeister believes DLT expectations are rather high, at the same time, he’s optimistic. “In future, there will be more peer-to-peer governed marketplaces and less intermediaries. In that regard, blockchain has the potential to disrupt the capital markets infrastructure.”
Impact on Deutsche Börse businesses
The group observed that multiple blockchain projects in the marketplace could impact different parts of the group’s value chain. These include initial coin offerings (ICOs), decentralized secondary market platforms, and blockchain-based custody solutions.
So far the Deutsche Börse Group emphasis has been on ideation and exploration. As opposed to execution. As with other large organizations, there’s the potential for initiatives to spread across businesses. Hence the company decided to centralize all group-wide efforts to generate efficiencies and create revenues.
The 24-person team all have proven DLT/blockchain expertise or involvement in existing projects.
