summary
The finance industry is particularly well-situated for the blockchain revolution since a lot of the assets banks deal with are not necessarily physical in nature, like stocks, bonds, etc. The Dharma protocol is planning to move forward with this idea and release a token that represents part of a debt asset. The concept is similar to that of securitization, which is where you turn an illiquid asset into a tradeable one. Many large banks are also just investing in cryptocurrencies, notably Goldman Sachs. Blockchains and their associated assets are also allowing assets to pass across borders and jurisdictions largely unencumbered by regulation and intermediation. Many cryptocurrencies can be bought in one country and sold in another for local currency, without ever having to pay a premium for exchange. This is particularly good news for large banks, whose large-scale transfers might have otherwise cost them a fortune. Interbank transfers represent one of the most high-profile and effective use cases of blockchain, and big names are paying attention - JP Morgan launched the Interbank Information Network, and Ripple has launched the Global Payments steering group, garnering support from groups such as MUFG, BAML and the Royal Bank of Canada. SWIFT, the current go-to for global financial transfer, is also heavily invested in the space - their test project launched on Hyperledger Fabric and yielded positive results earlier this year. Lastly, many finance giants are using blockchain to facilitate traceability and/or privacy. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is using blockchain as a verification mechanism for digital certificates, and Wells Fargo is using it to track securitized mortgages. JPM Chase has launched its own ethereum-esque enterprise blockchain platform, Quorum, which is optimized for finance usecases - private transactions, permissioned network access, and smart contracts. Deloitte, KPMG, EY and PwC are also banding together with Taiwanese banks to use blockchain to help audit financial reports. The transparency and immutability afforded to blockchain-based systems is particularly enticing for accounting use cases.