Report: Investment In Blockchain Research To Reach $400 Mln By 2019

Blockchain technology is creating waves in the global financial sector. Major banking and financial institutions along with leading tech companies are joining forces to explore the blockchain technology. This rising interest has become all the more evident with the number of banks in the R3 blockchain consortium increasing to 42 recently. Moreover, several tech giants and leading banks including IBM, Intel, Cisco, JP Morgan, London Stock Exchange Group, State Street have now come forward to create an ‘alternative to the blockchain’, an Open Ledger Project, overseen by Linux Foundation.

According to latest estimates from financial services research firm Aite Group, the investment in blockchain research by these big banks will be around $400 million by 2019, Quartz reported. This year, financial institutions spent $75 million on the technology.

“Blockchain’s inherent cryptographic nature makes every transaction more transparent, secure, and irreversible, mitigating clearing and settlement risk,” the Aite report said.

It is too early to comment how the financial sector will make use of the technology, particularly the anonymity feature, given the highly regulated nature of the US financial services industry.

“Unless blockchain enthusiasts understand these inherent regulatory restrictions, massive adoption of blockchain technology within the financial services industry will not be possible,” the Aite report said.