Australian Stock Exchange Cancels Blockchain Plans Worth $170 Million
The Australian stock exchange’s blockchain twist has been canceled permanently. The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), which has spent nearly $170 million (roughly Rs. 1,387 crore), on blockchain innovation following an independent review from Accenture. The outcome of this consultation indicated “significant challenges” with the design solution the ASX was working on. Those solutions did not meet the requirements of the ASX. The ASX intends to use blockchain to improve its clearing and settlement system.
The ASX wishes to replace its existing CHESS system to record shares and manage the settlement of transactions. An overview of the 25-year-old system extends to the Clearing House Electronic Subregister System.
As part of its review, Accenture said the ASX’s Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), was too complex. Blockchain software is 60 percent complete.
“The ASX announcement marks a significant step back from changing the national infrastructure important to Australia’s capital markets,” said an official statement from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).
Philip Lowe, Governor of the Reserve Bank has expressed deep disappointment at the ASX’s failure to introduce a blockchain twist to its operations.
“The ASX announcement after many years of investment by the ASX and the industry is very disappointing. “The ASX needs to prioritize developing a new plan to deliver safe and reliable sanitation and residential infrastructure,” Lowe commented.
The ASX has been directed to keep the CHESS system running until a viable alternative is developed.
Last year in November, Jane Hume, Australia’s Minister for the Digital Economy, had urged the Australian government to embrace innovation and development around blockchain.
Meanwhile, other nations are also trying to expand blockchain use cases to bring consistent transparency to their operations.
In Brazil, law enforcement authorities have unveiled a special blockchain network that aims to fight corruption at public expense by tracking it effectively.
Earlier in October, the police department in the Indian state of Firozabad launched a new complaints platform built on the Polygon blockchain so that locals can file complaints with law enforcement in a consistent way.
Even in the UAE, Abu Dhabi has decided to use blockchain technology to make commercial judicial processes more efficient. This will result in significant time and cost savings for parties in enforcing their commercial judgments.
