The Swiss Stock Exchange and Nasdaq have penned an agreement that will see Switzerland’s stock exchange utilize blockchain technology in their over-the-counter services, in a landmark move for the technology in financial markets.
As per a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission dated July, early blockchain pioneers Nasdaq reached the agreement with the SIX Swiss Exchange, which will see the latter begin to implement Nasdaq blockchain technology within their OTC product markets.
In revealing the details of the arrangement, the filing spoke to commercialization of Nasdaq’s earlier forays into blockchain development, which thus far have positioned the exchange company as one of the world’s foremost development partners for blockchain exchange platforms.
“In July 2017, Nasdaq also signed an agreement with SIX Swiss Exchange to implement a distributed ledger technology based solution for the OTC structured products business from SIX, highlighting further commercialization of blockchain with the Nasdaq Financial Framework.”
SIX Swiss Exchange is a subsidiary, part of the wider SIX Group which has carried out extensive research and development into blockchain technology.
Aside from the Nasdaq deal, the group have also been looking at additional implementations of the technology, including in business securities via its SIX Securities division.
While there are scant details on the timeline for development and implementation, the move comes as the latest arrangement from Nasdaq to commercialize their own efforts in exploring the blockchain.
In May, Nasdaq announced it had reached a deal with American banking giant Citi, specificlally targeting payments over the blockchain. In March, Nasdaq announced it was working with a digital media contracts platform to develop a blockchain-powered solution, while also announcing a desire to work with more startups in developing similar applications of the tech.
The agreement between SIX and Nasdaq comes at a crucial time for blockchain deployments, as more corporates, government agencies and banks push forward with testing and implementing blockchain proofs-of-concept.
Thought to be amongst one of the most influential technologies in decades, particularly for financial services and markets, analysts are expecting distributed ledger technology to play an increasing role in business processes over the coming months, as industry-wide research and development efforts begin to bear fruit.
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