Financial services: Wall Street learns to love blockchain

Financial companies hope to modernise markets with the technology but systemic risks remain

3. August 2026 um 14:30 Uhr / Von Nikou Asgari, Financial Times

This photograph shows a screen displaying the app icon of Ethereum crypto-currency on a smart phone, in Paris on July 24, 2026 Bild: Lou BENOIST / AFP via Getty Images

In 2016, the Australian stock exchange unveiled a bold plan to use blockchain technology to transform its trading systems.

Its chief executive vowed to "put Australia at the forefront of innovation in financial markets". Headlines touted the "world-first" and "history-making" move, emphasising the significance of a traditional stock exchange eager to use the technology that powered an invention as potentially disruptive as cryptocurrencies.