London Stock Exchange to create traditional assets trading platform on blockchain

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) Group reportedly plans to create a blockchain-based platform offering traditional financial assets.

According to a report in the Financial Times, the company has been looking into the potential of a blockchain-based trading venue for a year. LSE Group’s head of capital markets, Murray Roos, said that the company’s efforts in looking into the blockchain had reached a point where it decided to move its plans forward.

Roos also clarified that it will not be building anything around cryptocurrencies. However, the company will use blockchain technology to enhance the efficiency of holding, buying and selling traditional assets. 

According to Roos, the idea is to use digital technology to create a “slicker, smoother, cheaper and more transparent” process for traditional assets. The LSE Group executive also added that it will be regulated.

Roos also mentioned that the LSE Group waited until investors were ready and the public blockchain technology was good enough before proceeding with the project. If the plan comes to fruition, Roos claimed the LSE Group would be the first major global stock exchange to offer an end-to-end blockchain-powered ecosystem for investors.

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Meanwhile, other traditional financial infrastructures have started to warm to the idea of integrating blockchain technology. On Aug. 31, the bank messaging network SWIFT shared a report on how it can connect with blockchains to solve the problem of interoperability between various blockchain networks.

Apart from financial infrastructures, an airline carrier has also started to integrate blockchain-based technologies. On Aug. 31, Lufthansa Airlines launched a nonfungible token (NFT) loyalty program on the Polygon network. NFT holders will have the chance to gain rewards such as lounge access and flight upgrades.

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