According to the official announcement published on Sept. 23, SIX has launched a prototype of its digital exchange and the central securities depository (CSD).
Switzerland’s SIX Swiss Exchange has postponed the launch of its “fully regulated” crypto trading platform SIX Digital Exchange (SDX).
As Reuters reported on Sept. 23, a spokesman said SIX moved the full launch of SDX to the end of 2020 primarily due to legal and regulatory issues.
The full launch is now expected in Q4 2020. The document explains:
“The objective of the prototype is to showcase the future of financial markets to the community and obtain feedback as well as demonstrate that a distributed CSD – based on DLT – can be integrated with a central order-book stock exchange model to ensure fair market conditions for all.”
Legal and regulatory issues
The exchange is reportedly still in negotiations with partner banks, the services of which it will offer on the platform. The spokesperson said:
“Future releases will offer more functionality, with a particular emphasis on asset servicing, in Q1 2020. The full launch is expected in Q4 2020.”
SDX’s initial plans
SDX was initially announced in July last year, with plans to be rolled out in mid-2019. At the time, a news release said SDX intends to become “a fully integrated trading, settlement and custody infrastructure for digital assets”, which it claimed would be the world’s first to “offer a fully integrated end to end trading, settlement and custody service.”
SIX previously chose to use blockchain consortium R3’s Corda Enterprise platform for SDX. In February 2019, the company announced it would be testing blockchain integration for SDX, and would use the technology to tokenize stocks, bonds and possibly exchange-traded funds.
Plans to issue a digital token and a stablecoin
In May of this year, SIX revealed that it will look to issue its own digital token as part of SDX’s forthcoming launch. Thomas Zeeb, the head of securities and exchanges and director at SIX, had said:
“Ultimately we want to be able to tokenize existing securities – equities, fixed income, funds. Maybe the token will eventually replace the share one day.”
Recently, SIX asked the Swiss central bank to issue a stablecoin, which will be used to settle payments on SDX.
SIS International Research Opens Blockchain Consulting Division
SIS International Research, a global market research firm headquartered in New York City, has set up blockchain consulting division called SIS Blockchain.
Enterprise blockchain will be vital
After two years of consulting clients on blockchain applications in various industries including finance, supply chain and real estate, SIS Research established a separate blockchain consulting team, according to a press release on Sept. 4.
Michael Stanat, vice-president of global operations at SIS Research, noted that the company has worked with key education, healthcare and supply-chain firms on their specific needs for adopting blockchain.
SIS Research believes that enterprise blockchain will become an important part of business strategy in the future, Stanat added.
SIS Blockchain’s area of work
According to the press release, SIS Research has also been providing its expertise for companies willing to deploy blockchain in government structures, shipping and logistics, B2B and Internet of Things.
As a result, the company came up with its own approach to blockchain strategy consulting such as technology acquisition and partnership strategy as well as market research and competitive intelligence tools covering trends, sourcing, customer and Proof-of-Concept research among others.
Additionally, SIS Blockchain will operate alongside the company’s existing FinTech, EdTech and BeautyTech strategy consulting divisions, the release notes.
In late August, tech market advisory firm ABI Research estimated that global revenues for blockchain technology will git $10 billion by 2023.
