There has been much discussion over whether blockchain technology is a solution looking for an issue. The business that controls the Australian stock market has chosen not to implement blockchain technology as a means of updating its platform, making it clear that this technology will not be used to improve the country’s financial markets.
There was formerly talk of the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) Ltd rebuilding its software infrastructure on a blockchain solution, however that idea has been officially cancelled. Even though a major software upgrade is still necessary, the “blockchain revolution” has been delayed once again, at least in Australia.
A blockchain-based rebuild of the software system now operating consolidated trading, settlement, and clearing processes was scheduled to begin in November 2022, but ASX announced in November 2022 that it would be delaying the project. The decision was made after an outside audit showed that the system needed to be redesigned from the ground up. It had taken seven years to construct the new decentralised, cryptographically certified network infrastructure.
One of the world’s top 20 stock exchange groups, ASX, is still utilising software developed 30 years ago to manage daily turnover (A$4.685 billion) and total market capitalization (A$1.6 trillion). The ASX is reportedly examining alternatives to the blockchain’s “distributed ledger technology” as part of a fresh rebuild effort, according to a tape of a recent meeting with companies involved in the upgrade project.
Australian authorities are discouraging blockchain rebuild
The director of the Australian Exchange, Tim Whiteley, has stated that “a more conventional technology” rather than the revolutionary one initially envisioned will be required for the second attempt to rebuild. Whiteley said that the blockchain should be left to its slow and painful death if the desired “business outcomes” were to be achieved.
The company ASX contracted in 2016 to revamp the Australian exchange’s software base, Digital Asset, has remained silent on the latest development. A new upgrade strategy, apparently being developed by the New York-based organisation, will be announced by the year 2023.
Meanwhile, ASX is on the lookout for innovative concepts and prospective new partners. A request for information was made to other software providers, and a “request for proposal” (RFP) was sent to some of those vendors in order to get more specific input on their plan. Whiteley added that ASX heard from the market, and that nobody wants to make the “risky, single-date changeover to new software” that was being considered.
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