2018 Will Be The Year Banks Adopt Blockchain Tech [But Shy Away From Cryptocurrencies]

Blockchain technology has been an avidly talked about tech that has a lot of people from a lot of industries incredibly excited. We crypto-enthusiasts sometimes forget that all these cryptocurrencies that we have invested in have a very useful underlying technology that makes them tick.

Commercial banks are finally starting to unveil the blockchain solutions they have been working on to help streamline our financial system. One such example is ANZ one of New Zealand and Australia's biggest commercial banks. Recently the discussed how they will be using blockchain going forward and the projects they are using the tech with.

The article that relates to this can be found here:
https://www.interest.co.nz/business/91837/anzs-head-transaction-banking-how-blockchain-being-used-streamline-cross-border

The solutions the bank is trying to solve are:

• Cross-border payments
• Know-your-client obligations
• The bank guarantee process for property lending

These processes all have large legacy systems that make them slow and clunky. The hope is that blockchains distributed ledger technology will enhance transparency and speed all at once.

JUST BECAUSE BANKS ARE ADOPTING BLOCKCHAIN DOESN'T MEAN THEY'LL ADOPT CRYPTOCURRENCY

It is interesting to note that Ripple was brought up in the interview. Mr Tucker almost dismisses Ripple as a solution to cross-border payments that ANZ would adopt.

Banks obviously don't want cryptocurrencies to take-over fiat as our main form of value transfer (at least now now). Cryptocurrencies pose a threat to how banks make money, and even the likes of Ripple - which is friendly towards banks - don't seem to be making headway.

For now cryptocurrency doesn't seem like it will be adopted by banks and even the mainstream for transacting value for another few years.

If you want to view the video too here it is: