Deutsche Bank: Capital Markets Expect Blockchain Impact Within 6 Years

Three out of four capital markets participants now believe distributed ledger tech will see widespread use within the next six years, according to a new Deutsche Bank report.

Conducted on behalf of the bank's global transaction banking division, the report sought to examine the factors driving the strategic thinking of institutional investors, banks, financial sponsors, sovereign institutions and broker-dealers.

In total, 200 market participants were surveyed, with 87% reporting they believe it is likely to have an impact on securities services.

Overall, 75% of survey respondents see distributed technologies being widely used within the next three to six years, a finding the report authors suggested pointed to a "surprising degree of certainty" about the new technology.

Deborah Thompson, Deutsche Bank's head of Custody and Clearing, said in the report:

Other notable findings included that most respondents believe the technology will help their firms reduce key costs.

Thirty-eight percent thought that blockchain could reduce the cost of providing securities services by more than 20%, though most (42%) estimated the savings would be in the 11% to 20% range.

Further, almost half (48%) said they believe that systems failures were the most important issue that blockchain could guard against.

The survey coincides with a larger exploration of blockchain by Deutsche Bank, which has in the past told CoinDesk it is involving its global transaction banking division in cross-company activities focused on the technology.

Deutsche Bank has also shown a willingness to partner with other major financial firms, teaming for a notable test on how banks could use digital currency to settle trades earlier this year.

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