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Blockchain rewires financial markets
Trailblazers take the lead
IBM Institute for Business Value
The Economist Intelligence Unit
survey conducted by
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Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 3
The IBM Institute for Business Value
with the support of the Economist
Intelligence Unit surveyed
200 Financial Markets Institutions
in 16 countries on their experience
and expectations with blockchains.
What differentiates the early adopters
and what can we learn from them?
First movers: Trailblazers set a fast pace and new direction
In 2017, 14 percent of financial markets institutions in our study expect to have blockchains in production and
at commercial scale.
These Trailblazers may be small in number, but they’re long on ambition. They’re prioritizing blockchain efforts
to act on invisible threats – both new competitors and new business models – as well as to acquire the trusted
information that supports bold endeavors like these.
Opportunity seekers: Trailblazers prioritize key business areas for best benefits
Cost, immutability and transparency benefits: Trailblazers focus blockchains on four areas – clearing and
settlements, wholesale payments, equity and debt issuance, and reference data.
New business models: Trailblazers expect blockchains to yield the greatest effect in opening up new
business models in three of the same four areas – clearing and settlements, wholesale payments, and equity
and debt issuance.
Shifting profit pools: New vectors for growth and disruption
Disruption postponed: Most financial markets institutions, including those in the Trailblazer segment, aren’t
anticipating substantial disruption from blockchains. Regulations and the need for market conventions to
achieve scale may have extended the time horizon for any anticipated disruption.
Investing for growth: Financial markets institutions are investing most heavily in identity and know your
customer (KYC), clearing and settlements, collateral management, reference data and corporate actions.
These areas face new regulations, which may in part be driving initial investments to solve problems that
could pinch the bottom line rather than present the greatest opportunities for growth.
Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 4
First movers
Trailblazers set
a fast pace
and new direction
4
In the past two years, institutions in the financial markets industry have swarmed to blockchain pilots and
proofs of concept. They’ve opened innovation labs, sponsored hackathons, teamed with fintechs, joined
consortia and worked with regulatory bodies to pave the way for blockchains. Major institutions like Nasdaq
have begun executing trades on a blockchain. Others, like the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation
(DTCC), anticipating disintermediation, have initiated pilots with banks on credit swaps and with Digital Asset
Holdings on repos: a USD 2.62 trillion market.
1
This flurry of activity has led to speculation by experts: Are financial markets institutions caught up in a hype
cycle? Or are they ready to commit to blockchains faster than previous new technologies? Fourteen percent of
the financial markets institutions in our study expect to have blockchain solutions in commercial production,
and more critically, at scale in 2017 (see Figure 1). Our conclusion? Analyzing their responses across a number
of areas, these first-movers we call the Trailblazers may be small in number, but they are long on ambition.
The Trailblazers segment is dominated by capital markets, which make up a full 50 percent of the Trailblazers,
compared to 36 percent across our study. Seven in ten are smaller firms, with fewer than 20,000 employees.
Figure 1. First to finish: Respondents' expectation
of when they will have blockchains in commercial
production and at scale
Mass adopters
56%
20202017
Followers
30%
Trailblazers
14%
2018
Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 5First movers (continued)
Figure 2. Frictions framework: Information, innovation and interaction frictions can be minimized by blockchains
In our first blockchain study, “Fast Forward”, ibm.biz/fastforward, we examined the potential for blockchains to
eradicate the frictions that hold companies back, limit their growth and constrain innovation. We identified nine
frictions that challenge enterprises today (See Figure 2) and analyzed the impact blockchains might have. This
study asked for the views of financial markets institutions on these same frictions.
Frictions
Imperfect information
Inaccessible information
Information risks
1 | Information
2 | Interaction
Transaction costs
Degrees of separation
Inaccessible marketplaces
3 | Innovation
Restrictive regulations
Institutional inertia
Invisible threats
We found that Trailblazers, and indeed just about all financial markets institutions, expect blockchain to
eradicate frictions across the board. But Trailblazers stand apart from other financial markets institutions in
their ambition. They expect blockchains to substantially diminish the risks from invisible threats. Instead, they
expect blockchains to bolster their capacity to respond to those new competitors and business models that
were once too difficult to anticipate (see Figure 3). To support this determination, they are focused on those
frictions that bar access to trusted information – both information that may be prone to error or multiple
versions of the truth – as well as information that can be difficult to access.
Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 6
Figure 3. Path to growth: Trailblazers identify the three frictions that blockchains can most reduce
For some, existing regulations and the need for global market conventions have likely held back their push to
imminent commercialization. For others, these same conditions may have been an impetus to act first and fast.
First-mover advantages for Trailblazers include the ability to influence the business standards, favored
technologies, protocols and regulations by which others will one day operate. Moreover, as start-ups target
incumbents and new business models begin to scale, first-mover firms will be well situated to get ahead of any
consequent disruption.
How individual institutions respond to blockchain opportunities in the next few years will, of course, depend on
their circumstances, capacity and ambition, as well as their interactions with regulators. The plans, priorities
and investments of the Trailblazers, however, do illuminate a direction.
Invisible threats
Risk of new business model
disruptions or new competition
that are difficult to plan for
Imperfect information
Risk of new business model
disruptions or new competition
that are difficult to predict
Inaccessible information
Shortage of information because
of standards issues or shortage
of scalable computing power
and storage.
32% 6% 12%
more moremore
79% | 60% 71% | 67% 68% | 61%
First movers (continued)
Trailblazers Other financial markets institutions
Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 7
Figure 4. Benefits for all: Blockchains’ impact on cost, transparency and immutability
We asked financial markets institutions to weigh cost, transparency and immutability benefits in nine areas
core to their business and analyzed their answers to calculate a blended score for each business area. Our
analysis reveals near-unanimity among the institutions that make up the financial markets industry, whether
they’re ready to go to market in 2017 or plan to take longer. They expect compelling benefits from blockchain
technology in each of the areas we surveyed (see Figure 4).
Trailblazers
Other financial markets institutions
79%
59%
79%
59%
75%
64%
75%
63%
71%
65%
69%
69%
69%
63%
67%
67%
Opportunity seekers
Trailblazers prioritize
key business areas
for best benefits
7
Syndicated
lending
Wholesale
payments
Collateral
management
Corporate
actions
Clearing
and
settlement
Equity and
debt
issuance
Reference
data
Identity and
know your
customer
Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 8
Trailblazers have determined that four areas should benefit most from the process improvements introduced
by blockchains – clearing and settlements, wholesale payments, equity and debt issuance, and reference
data. Asked where blockchains would best open up new transformational business models, Trailblazers
named three of these same four business areas: equity and debt issuance, clearing and settlements, and
wholesale payments (see Figure 5). A concentration of pilots in these areas is one indication that the industry
may have been attracted first to those activities that pose the greatest disintermediation risk to market
infrastructure participants.
Opportunity seekers (continued)
Trailblazers Other financial
markets institutions
Wholesale payments
Cost and immutability
Equity and debt issuance
Cost and transparency
Clearing and settlements
Transparency and immutability
41% 37% 32%
more moremore
86% | 61% 82% | 60% 82% | 62%
Figure 5. Trailblazers’ top three blockchain-enabled business models
Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 9Opportunity seekers (continued)
Clearing and settlements
Of all the business areas surveyed, Trailblazers calculated the greatest benefits from the immutability of data
and transactions that will accrue to clearing and settlements (see Figure 6). Forty-three percent more
Trailblazers expect blockchain benefits such as the elimination of failed trades to arise from immutability.
Clearing and settlement activities are not without regulatory complexity. Issues like failed trades or the legal
treatment of settlement finality on the blockchain have yet to be resolved. But the benefits of moving settlement
to blockchain environments are significant. Nasdaq expects its blockchain initiative, Linq, could reduce
settlement risk by more than 99 percent.2
Others have tested settlement times for securities and contend that a process that currently takes three days
could soon clear on the same day. Mizuho Financial Group, one of the largest financial groups in Asia has
already demonstrated that cross-border securities settlement on blockchains can occur almost
instantaneously.3 In January 2016, the Australia Stock Exchange (ASX) began running a blockchain pilot for
investors to “radically simplify and speed up post-trade processing,” reduce risk and compliance costs for its
clients, and significantly speed up settlement – potentially to same day or even near real-time.4
Figure 6. Key Trailblazer clearing and settlement benefits
Transparency 79% | 59%
Immutability 86% | 60%
Cost 71% | 59%
Trailblazers
Other financial markets institutions
Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 10Opportunity seekers (continued)
The Japan Exchange Group writes, in a working paper on blockchain proofs of concept, “Applying DLT
[distributed ledger technology] in capital market infrastructure has great potential to contribute to generating
new business, enhancing business operations, and reducing cost and even rebuild the financial business
models that exist today.”5 Incumbents and fintechs alike are convinced that as financial markets institutions
look further down the road, new peer-to peer custody and settlement networks on blockchains could
disintermediate, or at least change the role of, the middlemen once required to confer trust.
Wholesale payments
Like settlements, wholesale payments are an opportunity to inject speed. These high-value transactions are
slow, but because they are also less frequent with fewer transactions generated daily, speed is not the most
critical objective. Instead, Trailblazers value the opportunity to reduce the costs of these intensely manual
transactions; indeed, across all the business areas, they ranked wholesale payments as the first to benefit
from cost savings (see Figure 7).
CLS Group (CLS), a leading provider of risk management and operational services for the global foreign
exchange (FX) market recently announced that it has secured 14 institutions to join its new payment netting
service on the Hyperledger blockchain for buy-side and sell-side institutions. The global market has been
limited by the lack of standardized payment netting processes for trades not settled within the current CLS
environment, contributing to higher costs and increased intra-day liquidity demands.
Figure 7. Key Trailblazer wholesale payment benefits
Transparency 75% | 62%
Immutability 75% | 56%
Cost 86% | 58%
Trailblazers
Other financial markets institutions
“Using an open-source DLT solution will ensure
the appropriate levels of confidentiality, security,
standardization, scalability and flexibility required
to create a meaningful network effect across the
financial industry.”
Tom Zschach, Head of Technology and Operations at CLS
Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 11Opportunity seekers (continued)
Equity and debt issuance
Despite the need for regulatory oversight and liquidity to trade equities and other instruments, financial
markets Trailblazers expect significant transparency and cost benefits to emerge as blockchain-enabled
trading platforms become established (see Figure 8). SBI, a Japanese consortium of 15 banks has turned
to blockchains to enable a new payments platform that includes round-the-clock settlement.6 Banks’ fees
would be cut by 90 percent. They expect their new service to go live in spring of 2017.
From the start, financial markets institutions have looked beyond efficiency to consider radically new
business models for equities and debt markets. These include peer networks that issue and distribute
illiquid instruments, as well as new product wrappers where investors would own shares of a digitized fund on
a blockchain.
In July of 2015, Overstock, an e-commerce corporation, became the first to issue its own corporate bond on
a blockchain, eliminating the possibility of naked short selling and reducing settlement time to near zero. Six
months later, it earned regulatory approval to issue equities on the blockchain. In September 2016, Overstock
announced it was partnering with Keystone Capital to work with regulators on its blockchain platform.7
Figure 8. Key Trailblazer equity and debt issuance benefits
Transparency 79% | 66%
Immutability 68% | 68%
Cost 79% | 59%
Trailblazers
Other financial markets institutions
Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 12Opportunity seekers (continued)
Reference data
On blockchains, reference data (see Figure 9) is automatically captured in real time, validated and shared
as permitted across business divisions and institutions. It becomes in effect, an ongoing and constantly
up-to-date, self-integrating system of truth. As data siloes are connected to blockchains, benefits build up:
Costly and time-consuming reconciliations are all but eliminated, and an instantaneously verifiable audit trail
discourages bad actors. Data integrity is assured and financial institutions gain a superior platform for
up-to-the-minute analytics and real-time reporting, a service their clients value greatly.
Ultimately , the data embedded in transactions, such as instrument, time or trust level can inform smart
contracts that automate interactions, reducing costs and time. Although Trailblazers don’t view reference data
as particularly ripe for business model change, it’s anticipated that blockchains could help firms monetize data
to create other new financial services. Reference data, less burdened by regulatory complexity than other
activities, is an attractive place to start blockchain initiatives.
Recently, a group of seven buy-side and sell-side firms along with the Securities Industry and Financial
Markets Association (SIFMA), joined forces with blockchain firms Axoni and R3, to complete a multi-month
proof of concept exploring how blockchains could simplify reference data processes. Reference data makes
up 40 percent to 70 percent of financial transaction data, and due to lack of automation and a reliance on
legacy systems and processes every institution is required to keep its own record of reference data,
introducing inconsistencies and requiring resources for reconciliation. Blockchains help reduce duplicate
reference data costs and improve data latency which will ultimately lower costs and reduce operational risks.8
When cost, immutability and transparency benefits from blockchain are considered independently of each
other, additional business areas stood out. Trailblazers rated collateral management second and corporate
actions third in immutability; identity and KYC second in cost savings.
Figure 9. Key Trailblazer reference data benefits
86% | 60%Transparency
Immutability 64% | 66%
Cost 75% | 62%
Trailblazers
Other financial markets institutions
Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 13
Shifting profit pools
The institutions that make up the financial markets industry are surprisingly complacent about the prospects
for disruption from blockchain. The same cannot be said of their commercial and retail banking peers. In our
study “Leading the pack in blockchain banking”, ibm.biz/blockchainbank we found the majority of Trailblazers
in the commercial and retail banking industry anticipate significant disruption in five of the nine areas core to
their business. By contrast, the majority of financial markets Trailblazers don’t expect much disruption in any of
the business areas surveyed. What accounts for such a starkly different view?
Despite the benign to encouraging attitudes that regulators have demonstrated to date, regulations in financial
markets may be constraining innovation and the entrance of new competitors. At the very least, current
regulations are likely extending the time horizon for disruption. Equity and debt issuance is an area where the
potential for business model disruption is high, but requires working closely with regulatory bodies to bring a
solution to market.
The requirements for scale – and consequent liquidity – also play a bigger role in some markets. So too do
business standards. Everything from how to define a credit default swap, or manage margin and collateral,
to the legal treatment of blockchain related disputes will need to be agreed upon before global efforts can
reach scale. In financial markets, there are hundreds of thousands of financial instruments and only a
nascent initiative to define a business ontology for them. This, combined with extremely complex processes
defined by market convention and subject to stringent, changing and occasionally contradictory regulatory
requirements, may be a drag on blockchain adoption. Disruption, it is likely, won’t be avoided; instead it may
simply be postponed.
New vectors for
growth and
disruption
13
Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 14Shifting profit pools (continued)
High
Figure 10. Set to spend: Areas of investment and disruption identified by all financial markets institutions
Potential for disruption
High
Wholesale payments
Investmentby2018
Return to growth
Safe bets On hold
Imminent revolution
Low
Invest to grow
Financial markets institutions are investing most in five areas: identity and KYC, clearing and settlement,
collateral management, reference data and corporate actions (see Figure 10).
Trailblazers identified deposit taking, mortgages, retail payments, corporate lending and consumer lending as
primed for disruption. Leaving no flank exposed, 9 in 10 Trailblazers plan to invest in each one. In some areas,
they’re out the gate early. Trailblazers are more than twice as likely as other banks to invest in retail payments,
consumer lending and corporate lending blockchain initiatives as early as 2016.
Equity and debt issuance
Syndicated lending
Corporate actions
Identity and know your customer
Collateral management
Reference data
Clearing and
settlement
Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 1515Shifting profit pools (continued)
Paradoxically, the areas where financial markets expect to invest are not, with one exception, the activities that
they believe represent the greatest benefits or potential for business model transformation. This suggests that
financial markets are investing to solve problems created by new regulations instead of investing in areas that
represent the greatest opportunity to grow, innovate and acquire new customers.
Investments in collateral management, for example, are likely fueled by new regulations for uncleared
derivatives, which could erode margins. As collateral becomes a more constrained resource, the need to move
and manage it more efficiently grows.
Just one area for significant investment – clearing and settlements – was also ranked in the top three in
benefits or business models. But it too is an area where new conventions are imminent and could be driving
investment. By the end of 2017, T+2 is expected to replace the current 3-day convention for settlement in the
U.S. equities market.10
Investment from all financial markets institutions is robust. Trailblazers’ investments are off the charts. Each
firm told us they’re investing by 2018 in every one of the business areas we surveyed. The areas they are
focusing on first illuminate their priorities compared to other firms. They’re more than twice as likely to invest
in wholesale payments (50 percent versus 23 percent) and collateral management (25 percent versus 12
percent) in 2016. They have also prioritized clearing and settlement for early investment (32 percent versus
17 percent).
Inefficiencies in collateral
management are estimated
to cost banks up to
USD 4 billion annually9
Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 16
Recommendations
To extract the most value from blockchains, financial markets institutions should answer the following
three questions:
How fast should we move?
Fourteen percent of surveyed executives have already started. These Trailblazers are setting a fast pace and
charting a direction for early advantage. Mass adopters can look to Trailblazers for lessons learned, but they
should be prepared to join them in real-world applications as soon as possible.
For half our survey respondents, regulatory complexity and constraints seem an impenetrable barrier to
blockchain adoption (see Figure 11). Regulators and legislators the world over are participating in consortia to
determine how regulations might change – and regulators might benefit from blockchains. Leading financial
markets institutions are collaborating with regulators on blockchain projects to earn approval for
implementation. Collaborations like these are influencing the future regulatory environment and driving
blockchain adoption.
How can we scale across business networks?
Once blockchains have scaled across multiple parties, they can begin to achieve the kind of network effects
that drastically reduce the frictions that curb growth. Trailblazers are already working on the new business
and technology standards required for scale. Mass adopters should join them and begin building strong
partnerships, including joining the consortia that are establishing business standards today.
Six in ten organizations view immature technology as a barrier (see Figure 11), and five in ten cite the need for
robust mechanisms to establish identity and a high degree of control over access. Security and privacy
standards will bring more participants into blockchain networks and drive scale.
16
Figure 11. Barriers to implementing
blockchains today
Top 3 barrier
Inefficient skills
Lack of clear ROI
Immature technology
Regulatory constraints
Lack of executive buy-in
Insufficient business case
57%
57%
57%
43%
36%
50%
43%
43%
43%
57%
64%
50%
Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 1717
45%
47%
48%
55%
58%
49%
How can we innovate with new revenue models?
Our data shows that only four in ten institutions today have already identified areas where a clear return on
investment is probable (see Figure 11).
Consortia lay the groundwork for a better understanding of blockchain’s benefits, but many financial markets
institutions already recognize that more focused collaborations with a few key partners is also necessary to
innovate business models. New revenue models must anticipate the potential for disruption in areas core to
business today and in the future. Whether defending each area or just a few, the surest offense is to focus early
and fast on the opportunity to implement new revenue models.
However the market evolves, blockchains will add at least one new revenue stream; the potential to monetize
reference data looms large. Financial markets institutions should factor this into their thinking from the outset.
Recommendations (continued)
The Linux Foundation’s open-source
technology initiative, Hyperledger, has a
core focus on identity and permissions.
Institutions are working together on
Hyperledger to set the technology
standards that advance interoperability
across blockchains and help ensure that
blockchain platforms can evolve as
conditions change.
Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 18
Notes and sources 1. Prisco, Giulio. “DTCC and Digital Asset Holdings to Test Blockchain Solutions for the $2.6 Trillion Repo Market.”
Bitcoin Magazine. March 30 2016. https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/dtcc-and-digital-asset-holdings-to-
test-blockchain-solutions-for-the-trillion-repo-market-1459358814
2. Warner, Matthew. “Nasdaq Linq Issues Shares With Blockchain Technology.” Allcoinsnews. January 4 2016.
http://allcoinsnews.com/2016/01/04/nasdaq-linq-issues-first-shares-with-blockchain-technology/
3. IBM press release. “Mizuho Financial Group and IBM to Test Blockchain Technology for Settlements Using
Virtual Currency.” June 23 2016. http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/50009.wss
4. Digital Asset press release. "ASX Selects Digital Asset To Develop Distributed Ledger Solutions For The
Australian Equity Market." Jan 21 2016. https://digitalasset.com/press/asx-selects-digital-asset.html
5. Alembakis, Rachel. “Blockchain – the next level.” TraderNews
http://www.thetradenews.com/Technology/Blockchain---The-next-level/
6. Ripple website. “SBI Ripple Asia Announces Japanese Bank Consortium.” Aug 19, 2016.
https://ripple.com/insights/sbi-ripple-asia-announces-japanese-bank-consortium/
7. del Castillo, Michael. “Overstock: Broker-Dealer Deal Will Open Blockchain Floodgates.” CoinDesk. September
16, 2016. http://www.coindesk.com/tos-first-broker-dealer-could-open-blockchain-securities-floodgates/
8. Lambert, James. “R3 and Axoni explore the use of distributed ledger technology to reduce risk in reference data
management with buy and sell side financial services firms.” R3CEV. September 20 2016.
https://r3cev.com/press/2016/9/20/press-release-r3-and-axoni-explore-the-use-of-distributed-ledger-
technology-to-reduce-risk-in-reference-data-management-with-buy-and-sell-side-financial-services-firms
9. Skinner, Chris. "Applying Blockchain to Clearing and Settlement." Fintech Ranking. August 28 2016.
http://fintechranking.com/2016/08/28/applying-blockchain-to-clearing-and-settlement/
10. SIFMA Resource Center. "Shortened Settlement Cycle." http://www.sifma.org/issues/operations-and-
technology/shortened-settlement-cycle/overview/
IBM Institute for Business Value
The IBM Institute for Business Value, part of IBM
Global Business Services, develops fact-based
strategic insights for senior business executives on
critical public and private sector issues.
The right partner for a changing world
At IBM, we collaborate with our clients, bringing
together business insight, advanced research and
technology to given them a distinct advantage in
today’s rapidly changing environment.
Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 19
The study team would like to thank the following people for their contributions to this executive report: Steve Ballou,
Kristin Biron, Jim Brill, Phil Enness, Angela Finley, April Harris, Christine Kinser, Anthony Lipp, Kathleen Martin,
Joni McDonald, Smitha Soman, Stephen Ott, Donald Thibeau, Idrissa Thioune and Anne-Marie Weber.
To learn more about this IBM Institute for Business Value study, please contact us at iibv@us.ibm.com. Follow
@IBMIBV on Twitter and for a full catalog of our research, visit: ibm.com/iibv
Access IBM Institute for Business Value executive reports on your phone or tablet by downloading the free “IBM IBV”
apps for iPad or Android from your app store.
Keith Bear, Vice President, Global Financial Markets
Nick Drury, Global Banking & Financial Markets Leader, IBM Institute for Business Value
Peter Korsten, Vice President, Global Thought Leadership and Eminence, GBS
Veena Pureswaran, Research Leader, Blockchain, IBM Institute for Business Value
James Wallis, Vice President, Global Payments Industry and Blockchain
Likhit Wagle, Global Industry General Manager Banking & Financial Markets; Industry Academy Member
Cuomo, Jerry, Shanker Ramamurthy, James Wallis et al. “Fast forward: Rethinking enterprises, ecosystems and
economies with blockchains.” IBM Institute for Business Value. June 2016. ibm.biz/blockchainstudy
Veena Pureswaran and Dr. Robin Lougee. “The Economy of Things: Extracting new value from the Internet of Things.”
IBM Institute for Business Value. June 2015. ibm.biz/economyofthings
Veena Pureswaran, Sanjay Panikkar and Sumabala Nair. “Empowering the edge: Practical insights on a decentralized
Internet of Things.” IBM Institute for Business Value. March 2015. ibm.biz/empoweringedge
Paul Brody and Veena Pureswaran. “Device democracy: Saving the future of the Internet of Things.”
IBM Institute for Business Value. September 2014. ibm.biz/devicedemocracy
Related publications
Study team
Contributors
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2016
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Somers, NY 10589
Produced in the United States of America
September 2016
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at ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml.
This document is current as of the initial date pf publication and may
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The information in this document is provided “as is” without any
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This report is intended for general guidance only. It is not intended
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Blockchain rewires INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVES-2

  • 1. Blockchain rewires financial markets Trailblazers take the lead IBM Institute for Business Value The Economist Intelligence Unit survey conducted by
  • 2. How IBM can help As one of the world’s leading research organizations, and one of the world’s top contributors to open source projects, IBM is committed to fostering the collaborative effort required to transform how people, governments and businesses transact and interact. IBM provides clients the consulting and systems integration capabilities to design and rapidly adopt distributed ledgers, digital identity and blockchain solutions. IBM helps clients leverage the global scale, business domain expertise, and deep cloud integration experience required for the application of these technologies. Learn more at ibm.com/blockchain
  • 3. Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 3 The IBM Institute for Business Value with the support of the Economist Intelligence Unit surveyed 200 Financial Markets Institutions in 16 countries on their experience and expectations with blockchains. What differentiates the early adopters and what can we learn from them? First movers: Trailblazers set a fast pace and new direction In 2017, 14 percent of financial markets institutions in our study expect to have blockchains in production and at commercial scale. These Trailblazers may be small in number, but they’re long on ambition. They’re prioritizing blockchain efforts to act on invisible threats – both new competitors and new business models – as well as to acquire the trusted information that supports bold endeavors like these. Opportunity seekers: Trailblazers prioritize key business areas for best benefits Cost, immutability and transparency benefits: Trailblazers focus blockchains on four areas – clearing and settlements, wholesale payments, equity and debt issuance, and reference data. New business models: Trailblazers expect blockchains to yield the greatest effect in opening up new business models in three of the same four areas – clearing and settlements, wholesale payments, and equity and debt issuance. Shifting profit pools: New vectors for growth and disruption Disruption postponed: Most financial markets institutions, including those in the Trailblazer segment, aren’t anticipating substantial disruption from blockchains. Regulations and the need for market conventions to achieve scale may have extended the time horizon for any anticipated disruption. Investing for growth: Financial markets institutions are investing most heavily in identity and know your customer (KYC), clearing and settlements, collateral management, reference data and corporate actions. These areas face new regulations, which may in part be driving initial investments to solve problems that could pinch the bottom line rather than present the greatest opportunities for growth.
  • 4. Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 4 First movers Trailblazers set a fast pace and new direction 4 In the past two years, institutions in the financial markets industry have swarmed to blockchain pilots and proofs of concept. They’ve opened innovation labs, sponsored hackathons, teamed with fintechs, joined consortia and worked with regulatory bodies to pave the way for blockchains. Major institutions like Nasdaq have begun executing trades on a blockchain. Others, like the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC), anticipating disintermediation, have initiated pilots with banks on credit swaps and with Digital Asset Holdings on repos: a USD 2.62 trillion market. 1 This flurry of activity has led to speculation by experts: Are financial markets institutions caught up in a hype cycle? Or are they ready to commit to blockchains faster than previous new technologies? Fourteen percent of the financial markets institutions in our study expect to have blockchain solutions in commercial production, and more critically, at scale in 2017 (see Figure 1). Our conclusion? Analyzing their responses across a number of areas, these first-movers we call the Trailblazers may be small in number, but they are long on ambition. The Trailblazers segment is dominated by capital markets, which make up a full 50 percent of the Trailblazers, compared to 36 percent across our study. Seven in ten are smaller firms, with fewer than 20,000 employees. Figure 1. First to finish: Respondents' expectation of when they will have blockchains in commercial production and at scale Mass adopters 56% 20202017 Followers 30% Trailblazers 14% 2018
  • 5. Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 5First movers (continued) Figure 2. Frictions framework: Information, innovation and interaction frictions can be minimized by blockchains In our first blockchain study, “Fast Forward”, ibm.biz/fastforward, we examined the potential for blockchains to eradicate the frictions that hold companies back, limit their growth and constrain innovation. We identified nine frictions that challenge enterprises today (See Figure 2) and analyzed the impact blockchains might have. This study asked for the views of financial markets institutions on these same frictions. Frictions Imperfect information Inaccessible information Information risks 1 | Information 2 | Interaction Transaction costs Degrees of separation Inaccessible marketplaces 3 | Innovation Restrictive regulations Institutional inertia Invisible threats We found that Trailblazers, and indeed just about all financial markets institutions, expect blockchain to eradicate frictions across the board. But Trailblazers stand apart from other financial markets institutions in their ambition. They expect blockchains to substantially diminish the risks from invisible threats. Instead, they expect blockchains to bolster their capacity to respond to those new competitors and business models that were once too difficult to anticipate (see Figure 3). To support this determination, they are focused on those frictions that bar access to trusted information – both information that may be prone to error or multiple versions of the truth – as well as information that can be difficult to access.
  • 6. Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 6 Figure 3. Path to growth: Trailblazers identify the three frictions that blockchains can most reduce For some, existing regulations and the need for global market conventions have likely held back their push to imminent commercialization. For others, these same conditions may have been an impetus to act first and fast. First-mover advantages for Trailblazers include the ability to influence the business standards, favored technologies, protocols and regulations by which others will one day operate. Moreover, as start-ups target incumbents and new business models begin to scale, first-mover firms will be well situated to get ahead of any consequent disruption. How individual institutions respond to blockchain opportunities in the next few years will, of course, depend on their circumstances, capacity and ambition, as well as their interactions with regulators. The plans, priorities and investments of the Trailblazers, however, do illuminate a direction. Invisible threats Risk of new business model disruptions or new competition that are difficult to plan for Imperfect information Risk of new business model disruptions or new competition that are difficult to predict Inaccessible information Shortage of information because of standards issues or shortage of scalable computing power and storage. 32% 6% 12% more moremore 79% | 60% 71% | 67% 68% | 61% First movers (continued) Trailblazers Other financial markets institutions
  • 7. Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 7 Figure 4. Benefits for all: Blockchains’ impact on cost, transparency and immutability We asked financial markets institutions to weigh cost, transparency and immutability benefits in nine areas core to their business and analyzed their answers to calculate a blended score for each business area. Our analysis reveals near-unanimity among the institutions that make up the financial markets industry, whether they’re ready to go to market in 2017 or plan to take longer. They expect compelling benefits from blockchain technology in each of the areas we surveyed (see Figure 4). Trailblazers Other financial markets institutions 79% 59% 79% 59% 75% 64% 75% 63% 71% 65% 69% 69% 69% 63% 67% 67% Opportunity seekers Trailblazers prioritize key business areas for best benefits 7 Syndicated lending Wholesale payments Collateral management Corporate actions Clearing and settlement Equity and debt issuance Reference data Identity and know your customer
  • 8. Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 8 Trailblazers have determined that four areas should benefit most from the process improvements introduced by blockchains – clearing and settlements, wholesale payments, equity and debt issuance, and reference data. Asked where blockchains would best open up new transformational business models, Trailblazers named three of these same four business areas: equity and debt issuance, clearing and settlements, and wholesale payments (see Figure 5). A concentration of pilots in these areas is one indication that the industry may have been attracted first to those activities that pose the greatest disintermediation risk to market infrastructure participants. Opportunity seekers (continued) Trailblazers Other financial markets institutions Wholesale payments Cost and immutability Equity and debt issuance Cost and transparency Clearing and settlements Transparency and immutability 41% 37% 32% more moremore 86% | 61% 82% | 60% 82% | 62% Figure 5. Trailblazers’ top three blockchain-enabled business models
  • 9. Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 9Opportunity seekers (continued) Clearing and settlements Of all the business areas surveyed, Trailblazers calculated the greatest benefits from the immutability of data and transactions that will accrue to clearing and settlements (see Figure 6). Forty-three percent more Trailblazers expect blockchain benefits such as the elimination of failed trades to arise from immutability. Clearing and settlement activities are not without regulatory complexity. Issues like failed trades or the legal treatment of settlement finality on the blockchain have yet to be resolved. But the benefits of moving settlement to blockchain environments are significant. Nasdaq expects its blockchain initiative, Linq, could reduce settlement risk by more than 99 percent.2 Others have tested settlement times for securities and contend that a process that currently takes three days could soon clear on the same day. Mizuho Financial Group, one of the largest financial groups in Asia has already demonstrated that cross-border securities settlement on blockchains can occur almost instantaneously.3 In January 2016, the Australia Stock Exchange (ASX) began running a blockchain pilot for investors to “radically simplify and speed up post-trade processing,” reduce risk and compliance costs for its clients, and significantly speed up settlement – potentially to same day or even near real-time.4 Figure 6. Key Trailblazer clearing and settlement benefits Transparency 79% | 59% Immutability 86% | 60% Cost 71% | 59% Trailblazers Other financial markets institutions
  • 10. Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 10Opportunity seekers (continued) The Japan Exchange Group writes, in a working paper on blockchain proofs of concept, “Applying DLT [distributed ledger technology] in capital market infrastructure has great potential to contribute to generating new business, enhancing business operations, and reducing cost and even rebuild the financial business models that exist today.”5 Incumbents and fintechs alike are convinced that as financial markets institutions look further down the road, new peer-to peer custody and settlement networks on blockchains could disintermediate, or at least change the role of, the middlemen once required to confer trust. Wholesale payments Like settlements, wholesale payments are an opportunity to inject speed. These high-value transactions are slow, but because they are also less frequent with fewer transactions generated daily, speed is not the most critical objective. Instead, Trailblazers value the opportunity to reduce the costs of these intensely manual transactions; indeed, across all the business areas, they ranked wholesale payments as the first to benefit from cost savings (see Figure 7). CLS Group (CLS), a leading provider of risk management and operational services for the global foreign exchange (FX) market recently announced that it has secured 14 institutions to join its new payment netting service on the Hyperledger blockchain for buy-side and sell-side institutions. The global market has been limited by the lack of standardized payment netting processes for trades not settled within the current CLS environment, contributing to higher costs and increased intra-day liquidity demands. Figure 7. Key Trailblazer wholesale payment benefits Transparency 75% | 62% Immutability 75% | 56% Cost 86% | 58% Trailblazers Other financial markets institutions “Using an open-source DLT solution will ensure the appropriate levels of confidentiality, security, standardization, scalability and flexibility required to create a meaningful network effect across the financial industry.” Tom Zschach, Head of Technology and Operations at CLS
  • 11. Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 11Opportunity seekers (continued) Equity and debt issuance Despite the need for regulatory oversight and liquidity to trade equities and other instruments, financial markets Trailblazers expect significant transparency and cost benefits to emerge as blockchain-enabled trading platforms become established (see Figure 8). SBI, a Japanese consortium of 15 banks has turned to blockchains to enable a new payments platform that includes round-the-clock settlement.6 Banks’ fees would be cut by 90 percent. They expect their new service to go live in spring of 2017. From the start, financial markets institutions have looked beyond efficiency to consider radically new business models for equities and debt markets. These include peer networks that issue and distribute illiquid instruments, as well as new product wrappers where investors would own shares of a digitized fund on a blockchain. In July of 2015, Overstock, an e-commerce corporation, became the first to issue its own corporate bond on a blockchain, eliminating the possibility of naked short selling and reducing settlement time to near zero. Six months later, it earned regulatory approval to issue equities on the blockchain. In September 2016, Overstock announced it was partnering with Keystone Capital to work with regulators on its blockchain platform.7 Figure 8. Key Trailblazer equity and debt issuance benefits Transparency 79% | 66% Immutability 68% | 68% Cost 79% | 59% Trailblazers Other financial markets institutions
  • 12. Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 12Opportunity seekers (continued) Reference data On blockchains, reference data (see Figure 9) is automatically captured in real time, validated and shared as permitted across business divisions and institutions. It becomes in effect, an ongoing and constantly up-to-date, self-integrating system of truth. As data siloes are connected to blockchains, benefits build up: Costly and time-consuming reconciliations are all but eliminated, and an instantaneously verifiable audit trail discourages bad actors. Data integrity is assured and financial institutions gain a superior platform for up-to-the-minute analytics and real-time reporting, a service their clients value greatly. Ultimately , the data embedded in transactions, such as instrument, time or trust level can inform smart contracts that automate interactions, reducing costs and time. Although Trailblazers don’t view reference data as particularly ripe for business model change, it’s anticipated that blockchains could help firms monetize data to create other new financial services. Reference data, less burdened by regulatory complexity than other activities, is an attractive place to start blockchain initiatives. Recently, a group of seven buy-side and sell-side firms along with the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), joined forces with blockchain firms Axoni and R3, to complete a multi-month proof of concept exploring how blockchains could simplify reference data processes. Reference data makes up 40 percent to 70 percent of financial transaction data, and due to lack of automation and a reliance on legacy systems and processes every institution is required to keep its own record of reference data, introducing inconsistencies and requiring resources for reconciliation. Blockchains help reduce duplicate reference data costs and improve data latency which will ultimately lower costs and reduce operational risks.8 When cost, immutability and transparency benefits from blockchain are considered independently of each other, additional business areas stood out. Trailblazers rated collateral management second and corporate actions third in immutability; identity and KYC second in cost savings. Figure 9. Key Trailblazer reference data benefits 86% | 60%Transparency Immutability 64% | 66% Cost 75% | 62% Trailblazers Other financial markets institutions
  • 13. Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 13 Shifting profit pools The institutions that make up the financial markets industry are surprisingly complacent about the prospects for disruption from blockchain. The same cannot be said of their commercial and retail banking peers. In our study “Leading the pack in blockchain banking”, ibm.biz/blockchainbank we found the majority of Trailblazers in the commercial and retail banking industry anticipate significant disruption in five of the nine areas core to their business. By contrast, the majority of financial markets Trailblazers don’t expect much disruption in any of the business areas surveyed. What accounts for such a starkly different view? Despite the benign to encouraging attitudes that regulators have demonstrated to date, regulations in financial markets may be constraining innovation and the entrance of new competitors. At the very least, current regulations are likely extending the time horizon for disruption. Equity and debt issuance is an area where the potential for business model disruption is high, but requires working closely with regulatory bodies to bring a solution to market. The requirements for scale – and consequent liquidity – also play a bigger role in some markets. So too do business standards. Everything from how to define a credit default swap, or manage margin and collateral, to the legal treatment of blockchain related disputes will need to be agreed upon before global efforts can reach scale. In financial markets, there are hundreds of thousands of financial instruments and only a nascent initiative to define a business ontology for them. This, combined with extremely complex processes defined by market convention and subject to stringent, changing and occasionally contradictory regulatory requirements, may be a drag on blockchain adoption. Disruption, it is likely, won’t be avoided; instead it may simply be postponed. New vectors for growth and disruption 13
  • 14. Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 14Shifting profit pools (continued) High Figure 10. Set to spend: Areas of investment and disruption identified by all financial markets institutions Potential for disruption High Wholesale payments Investmentby2018 Return to growth Safe bets On hold Imminent revolution Low Invest to grow Financial markets institutions are investing most in five areas: identity and KYC, clearing and settlement, collateral management, reference data and corporate actions (see Figure 10). Trailblazers identified deposit taking, mortgages, retail payments, corporate lending and consumer lending as primed for disruption. Leaving no flank exposed, 9 in 10 Trailblazers plan to invest in each one. In some areas, they’re out the gate early. Trailblazers are more than twice as likely as other banks to invest in retail payments, consumer lending and corporate lending blockchain initiatives as early as 2016. Equity and debt issuance Syndicated lending Corporate actions Identity and know your customer Collateral management Reference data Clearing and settlement
  • 15. Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 1515Shifting profit pools (continued) Paradoxically, the areas where financial markets expect to invest are not, with one exception, the activities that they believe represent the greatest benefits or potential for business model transformation. This suggests that financial markets are investing to solve problems created by new regulations instead of investing in areas that represent the greatest opportunity to grow, innovate and acquire new customers. Investments in collateral management, for example, are likely fueled by new regulations for uncleared derivatives, which could erode margins. As collateral becomes a more constrained resource, the need to move and manage it more efficiently grows. Just one area for significant investment – clearing and settlements – was also ranked in the top three in benefits or business models. But it too is an area where new conventions are imminent and could be driving investment. By the end of 2017, T+2 is expected to replace the current 3-day convention for settlement in the U.S. equities market.10 Investment from all financial markets institutions is robust. Trailblazers’ investments are off the charts. Each firm told us they’re investing by 2018 in every one of the business areas we surveyed. The areas they are focusing on first illuminate their priorities compared to other firms. They’re more than twice as likely to invest in wholesale payments (50 percent versus 23 percent) and collateral management (25 percent versus 12 percent) in 2016. They have also prioritized clearing and settlement for early investment (32 percent versus 17 percent). Inefficiencies in collateral management are estimated to cost banks up to USD 4 billion annually9
  • 16. Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 16 Recommendations To extract the most value from blockchains, financial markets institutions should answer the following three questions: How fast should we move? Fourteen percent of surveyed executives have already started. These Trailblazers are setting a fast pace and charting a direction for early advantage. Mass adopters can look to Trailblazers for lessons learned, but they should be prepared to join them in real-world applications as soon as possible. For half our survey respondents, regulatory complexity and constraints seem an impenetrable barrier to blockchain adoption (see Figure 11). Regulators and legislators the world over are participating in consortia to determine how regulations might change – and regulators might benefit from blockchains. Leading financial markets institutions are collaborating with regulators on blockchain projects to earn approval for implementation. Collaborations like these are influencing the future regulatory environment and driving blockchain adoption. How can we scale across business networks? Once blockchains have scaled across multiple parties, they can begin to achieve the kind of network effects that drastically reduce the frictions that curb growth. Trailblazers are already working on the new business and technology standards required for scale. Mass adopters should join them and begin building strong partnerships, including joining the consortia that are establishing business standards today. Six in ten organizations view immature technology as a barrier (see Figure 11), and five in ten cite the need for robust mechanisms to establish identity and a high degree of control over access. Security and privacy standards will bring more participants into blockchain networks and drive scale. 16 Figure 11. Barriers to implementing blockchains today Top 3 barrier Inefficient skills Lack of clear ROI Immature technology Regulatory constraints Lack of executive buy-in Insufficient business case 57% 57% 57% 43% 36% 50% 43% 43% 43% 57% 64% 50%
  • 17. Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 1717 45% 47% 48% 55% 58% 49% How can we innovate with new revenue models? Our data shows that only four in ten institutions today have already identified areas where a clear return on investment is probable (see Figure 11). Consortia lay the groundwork for a better understanding of blockchain’s benefits, but many financial markets institutions already recognize that more focused collaborations with a few key partners is also necessary to innovate business models. New revenue models must anticipate the potential for disruption in areas core to business today and in the future. Whether defending each area or just a few, the surest offense is to focus early and fast on the opportunity to implement new revenue models. However the market evolves, blockchains will add at least one new revenue stream; the potential to monetize reference data looms large. Financial markets institutions should factor this into their thinking from the outset. Recommendations (continued) The Linux Foundation’s open-source technology initiative, Hyperledger, has a core focus on identity and permissions. Institutions are working together on Hyperledger to set the technology standards that advance interoperability across blockchains and help ensure that blockchain platforms can evolve as conditions change.
  • 18. Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 18 Notes and sources 1. Prisco, Giulio. “DTCC and Digital Asset Holdings to Test Blockchain Solutions for the $2.6 Trillion Repo Market.” Bitcoin Magazine. March 30 2016. https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/dtcc-and-digital-asset-holdings-to- test-blockchain-solutions-for-the-trillion-repo-market-1459358814 2. Warner, Matthew. “Nasdaq Linq Issues Shares With Blockchain Technology.” Allcoinsnews. January 4 2016. http://allcoinsnews.com/2016/01/04/nasdaq-linq-issues-first-shares-with-blockchain-technology/ 3. IBM press release. “Mizuho Financial Group and IBM to Test Blockchain Technology for Settlements Using Virtual Currency.” June 23 2016. http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/50009.wss 4. Digital Asset press release. "ASX Selects Digital Asset To Develop Distributed Ledger Solutions For The Australian Equity Market." Jan 21 2016. https://digitalasset.com/press/asx-selects-digital-asset.html 5. Alembakis, Rachel. “Blockchain – the next level.” TraderNews http://www.thetradenews.com/Technology/Blockchain---The-next-level/ 6. Ripple website. “SBI Ripple Asia Announces Japanese Bank Consortium.” Aug 19, 2016. https://ripple.com/insights/sbi-ripple-asia-announces-japanese-bank-consortium/ 7. del Castillo, Michael. “Overstock: Broker-Dealer Deal Will Open Blockchain Floodgates.” CoinDesk. September 16, 2016. http://www.coindesk.com/tos-first-broker-dealer-could-open-blockchain-securities-floodgates/ 8. Lambert, James. “R3 and Axoni explore the use of distributed ledger technology to reduce risk in reference data management with buy and sell side financial services firms.” R3CEV. September 20 2016. https://r3cev.com/press/2016/9/20/press-release-r3-and-axoni-explore-the-use-of-distributed-ledger- technology-to-reduce-risk-in-reference-data-management-with-buy-and-sell-side-financial-services-firms 9. Skinner, Chris. "Applying Blockchain to Clearing and Settlement." Fintech Ranking. August 28 2016. http://fintechranking.com/2016/08/28/applying-blockchain-to-clearing-and-settlement/ 10. SIFMA Resource Center. "Shortened Settlement Cycle." http://www.sifma.org/issues/operations-and- technology/shortened-settlement-cycle/overview/ IBM Institute for Business Value The IBM Institute for Business Value, part of IBM Global Business Services, develops fact-based strategic insights for senior business executives on critical public and private sector issues. The right partner for a changing world At IBM, we collaborate with our clients, bringing together business insight, advanced research and technology to given them a distinct advantage in today’s rapidly changing environment.
  • 19. Blockchain rewires financial markets – Trailblazers take the lead | 19 The study team would like to thank the following people for their contributions to this executive report: Steve Ballou, Kristin Biron, Jim Brill, Phil Enness, Angela Finley, April Harris, Christine Kinser, Anthony Lipp, Kathleen Martin, Joni McDonald, Smitha Soman, Stephen Ott, Donald Thibeau, Idrissa Thioune and Anne-Marie Weber. To learn more about this IBM Institute for Business Value study, please contact us at iibv@us.ibm.com. Follow @IBMIBV on Twitter and for a full catalog of our research, visit: ibm.com/iibv Access IBM Institute for Business Value executive reports on your phone or tablet by downloading the free “IBM IBV” apps for iPad or Android from your app store. Keith Bear, Vice President, Global Financial Markets Nick Drury, Global Banking & Financial Markets Leader, IBM Institute for Business Value Peter Korsten, Vice President, Global Thought Leadership and Eminence, GBS Veena Pureswaran, Research Leader, Blockchain, IBM Institute for Business Value James Wallis, Vice President, Global Payments Industry and Blockchain Likhit Wagle, Global Industry General Manager Banking & Financial Markets; Industry Academy Member Cuomo, Jerry, Shanker Ramamurthy, James Wallis et al. “Fast forward: Rethinking enterprises, ecosystems and economies with blockchains.” IBM Institute for Business Value. June 2016. ibm.biz/blockchainstudy Veena Pureswaran and Dr. Robin Lougee. “The Economy of Things: Extracting new value from the Internet of Things.” IBM Institute for Business Value. June 2015. ibm.biz/economyofthings Veena Pureswaran, Sanjay Panikkar and Sumabala Nair. “Empowering the edge: Practical insights on a decentralized Internet of Things.” IBM Institute for Business Value. March 2015. ibm.biz/empoweringedge Paul Brody and Veena Pureswaran. “Device democracy: Saving the future of the Internet of Things.” IBM Institute for Business Value. September 2014. ibm.biz/devicedemocracy Related publications Study team Contributors
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