ASX adopts bitcoin technology

The company that operates the Australian stock market plans to update its shareholder recording systems using similar technology to that which underpins bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. ASX Ltd yesterday said it had tested the distributed ledger technology, which decentralises records and shares them across a private network. It believes the tech is secure and can help reduce customers’ costs. The ASX did not give a deadline for replacing the clearing house electronic subregister system (CHESS) it has used since the 1990s to manage transaction clearing and settlement, but aims to have a timetable by March. Chief executive Dominic Stevens said the ASX had been looking at distributed ledger technology (DLT) — the best known form of which is the public Blockchain upon which bitcoin operates — for almost two and a half years. “We believe that using DLT to replace CHESS will enable our customers to develop new services and reduce their costs, and it will put Australia at the forefront of innovation in financial markets,” he said. The tech was designed by US blockchain developer Digital Asset and will be operated by the ASX on a secure private network, with participants granted permission to access it. The distributed ledger allows transaction details to be recorded in multiple places at one time, helping make it harder for records to be hacked or corrupted. —