A blockchain-focused panel at Finnovasia yesterday drew so many interested FinTech professionals extra chairs needed to be brought into the auditorium.
The panel session at the Hong Kong conference centered on how blockchain is changing banking in Asia, with the audience there to hear insights from UBS Asia-Pacific CTO Peter Stephens; BitSpark CEO George Harrap; and ANX CTO Hugh Madden, among other industry participants.
Amongst the assembled panelists it was perhaps Stephens that drew the most attention from Finnovasia’s attendees for his insights into how the financial services firm is experimenting with how blockchain tech could evolve its business model
Stephens told the audience: "Banks are engaging. They’re trying to understand where this future lies. This isn’t just a new customer experience, this is real disruption from the business models. It will take business models out completely, it will create new business models. Disruption from blockchain isn’t just going to be in financial services." In response to a question by moderator Pindar Wong , Stephens further noted that UBS is investigating a variety of blockchain technologies, including open-source options from bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as permissioned networks.
Stephens also spoke about UBS’ interest in blockchain technology as a way to replace its "several hundred" internal ledgers, an issue he suggested was by no means unique to UBS. He added that he believes the blockchain could impact any company processes that either "lock up capital" or are "manually intensive".
Elsewhere a diverse set of industry stakeholders including Gatecoin CEO Aurelien Menant; Bitquant’s chief science officer Joseph Wang; and WIP Solutions CEO Alex Edana presented views on various issues facing the technology. Bitcoin or blockchain
In what has become a widely asked question at recent conferences, panelists were encouraged to share their thoughts on which blockchain technologies were likely to "win out" or otherwise be […]
