Swiss exchange SIX Expects Blockchain Platform to Rule in 10 Years

According to a story in Reuters news, Swiss exchange SIX expects its traditional trading platform to be overtaken within a decade by blockchain technology. Although stock and bond dealing on SIX and most other exchanges are now fully electronic, the underlying processing steps are often based on old protocols of paper and post. “The existing system could be completely replaced by the digital exchange in about 10 years,” Thomas Zeeb, head of securities and exchanges at SIX, said. SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) is scheduled to launch in mid-2019 and initially run parallel to the existing SIX platform, which involves three steps to complete a purchase or sale of securities, often over several days. Two of those steps vanish in a blockchain distributed ledger, meaning a transaction can be completed in fractions of a second. SIX still needs to clarify legal issues with the Financial Market Authority watchdog and the Swiss government. Once these are clear, SDX is likely to offer trading in selected stocks, followed by other stocks and later bonds and possibly exchange-traded funds, Zeeb said.