The Top Blockchain Stories of 2016

Blockchain (and distributed-ledger technologies, in general) continued to be a big story in 2016, the year many said is a transition time for the technology. As interest continues to grow, blockchain is bound to keep getting ink, particularly since 2017 is expected to see some practical use cases come to light.

This is a look back at some of the top blockchain stories Waters reported on. From possible new use cases and new geographies, thoughts on how the technology is implemented and even claiming the revolution is just over hyped, these pieces followed along one of the most discussed topics in the financial industry.

 Sizing Up Blockchain

A three-part special report exploring blockchain in today's world. The first part, written by Dan DeFrancesco, looks at plans by banks to launch digital currencies on the distributed ledger while the second part, by Emilia David, tracks the money pouring into the technology venture. Anthony Malakian then tackles the question, is blockchain over hyped?

 Does Blockchain Have a People Problem?

 Dan DeFrancesco asks if the reason blockchain is not fully adopted is not because of the C-Suite but the people in corner offices concerned over the impact it can have on the business.

 Accenture Makes the Case for an Editable Blockchain

 When Accenture announced its editable blockchain, it inevitably caused controversy. Here Accenture defends its editable blockchain, arguing it is important to offer a way to change some of the information so it can appeal to a wider range of industries and comply with regulations like Europe's right to be forgotten.

 Barclays Africa Executive: Blockchain Offers African Banks Much Needed Scale

Andrew Baker, Barclays Africa chief information officer, tells Waters that blockchain has the potential to help the region scale up, particularly since it is a high-friction market. He says banks will be better able to communicate with each other.

 BNY Mellon CIO: Blockchain Useful for Resiliency

BNY Melon's chief information officer Suresh Kumar details his firm's approach to blockchain, pursuing it as a secondary system to settle its transaction. Distributed ledger can be used to take a real-time snapshot of the day's transaction so in case the primary system goes down there is a way to get transactions up and running again.

 Can Blockchain Change the Reconciliation Game?

An increase in regulation means more data to piece together and reconcile for reporting. Blockchain is seen as a way to make reconciliation easier ─ if not remove the need for reconciliation altogether ─ because all the parties are supposed to have the same information from a transaction. 

 With Blockchain, Don't Boil the Ocean

Blockchain has its skeptics but many do believe that it can be helpful. Northern Trust president of global funds services Peter Cherewich cautions the industry to not get overexcited; rather, take the technology one step at a time and start the revolution small. 

 Blockchain Standards' Pivotal Moment

With the technology gaining steam, industry standards are said to be one of the keys to getting more people to adopt blockchain. Standardization is said to make the use of blockchain easier as it provides a consistent path to feed information.  

 DTCC's Palatnick on Blockchain: Too Many Groups Doing Their Own Thing, Not Working Together

Robert Palatnick, managing director and chief technology architect at DTCC, says collaboration in the industry is the best way to really maximize the potential of blockchain. He says the banking industry is so highly interconnected, and blockchain expertise so limited, that the pooling of knowledge is the only way to meet the needs of a post-trade environment.  

 Infrastructure Experts Want Blockchain Tech Standardized

Another call for standardization as people want interoperability between the many different types of blockchain and distributed-ledger technologies may be unable to communicate with each other without a set of commonalities. While blockchain firm Hyperledger believes talk of standards is still premature, it can encourage potential clients to keep system but have options in terms of platforms.