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Blockchain could save investment banks up to $12B a year: Accenture

reuters.com

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Re: Blockchain could save investment banks up to $12B a year: Accenture

#31

Post by petertodd »

josu wrote: post #24

For context, Accenture has been criticizing blockchains for their immutability. [1] [2] [3] So I would not take anything coming from them seriously. [1] Downside of Bitcoin: A Ledger That Can’t Be Corrected: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/10/business/dealbook/downside... [2] EDITING THE UNEDITABLE BLOCKCHAIN (PDF) https://www.accenture.com/t20160927T033514__w__/us-en/_acnme... [3] Accenture Launches A Way To Edit Blo…

What I found especially amazing by that is traditional accounting is based on immutability already: you never delete a ledger entry, you add a correction. The same concept for a blockchain is trivial. Equally, if you _really_ do need to delete something, just insert a record into the blockchain instructing all nodes to delete that record. Sure, you won't be able to verify the chain 100% after you delete the data, but you'll have a auditable record of why that's the case.

Re: Blockchain could save investment banks up to $12B a year: Accenture

#32

Post by mvnsnp »

amluto wrote: post #7
godzillabrennus wrote: post #5

Blockchain is so badly needed in the startup world when allocating shares of a company. Eshares is promising but too pricey for bootstrapping entrepreneurs. An open standard with distributed tracking of shares allocated for any given company would help institute much more trust into startup investing. Right now it's kind of tough to do due dilligence on a small private company.

> Blockchain is so badly needed in the startup world when allocating shares of a company. Eshares is promising but too pricey for bootstrapping entrepreneurs. What, exactly, does a blockchain have to do with this? ISTM all that's needed is a spreadsheet with an audit log, and even the audit log is somewhat optional.

As an attorney, I can tell you I have spent countless hours simply verifying that cap tables/spreadsheets are accurately tied to the underlying capitalization documents in connection with VC financings and M&A deals. If this process was reliably automated, thousands of dollars in legal fees could be saved on a given transaction.

Re: Blockchain could save investment banks up to $12B a year: Accenture

#33

Post by kneel »

runeks wrote: post #28

Can anyone name a single success story about the use of blockchain technology to solve a specific problem, and how this problem was solved using blockchain technology (besides Bitcoin)?

From an investment banks perspective a lot of the intrigue around 'blockchain technology' is due to the relative speed and security it offers.

Investment banks have chosen to pursue 'blockchain technologies' rather than bitcoin because they don't like bitcoin's transparency.

Here's the problem. Bitcoin is secure and fast because of it's transparency.

Re: Blockchain could save investment banks up to $12B a year: Accenture

#36

Post by patmcguire »

runeks wrote: post #28

Can anyone name a single success story about the use of blockchain technology to solve a specific problem, and how this problem was solved using blockchain technology (besides Bitcoin)?

Wall Street Clearinghouse to Adopt Bitcoin Technology https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/09/business/dealbook/wall-st...

Hasn't come out yet, but they're clearly a boring company that isn't chasing trends. We'll know in a year or so whether this is all smoke.

Re: Blockchain could save investment banks up to $12B a year: Accenture

#37

Post by Phlarp »

kneel wrote: post #33
runeks wrote: post #28

Can anyone name a single success story about the use of blockchain technology to solve a specific problem, and how this problem was solved using blockchain technology (besides Bitcoin)?

From an investment banks perspective a lot of the intrigue around 'blockchain technology' is due to the relative speed and security it offers. Investment banks have chosen to pursue 'blockchain technologies' rather than bitcoin because they don't like bitcoin's transparency. Here's the problem. Bitcoin is secure and fast because of it's transparency.

I think given the prevailing network conditions of the past 6-12 months the statement that "Bitcoin is fast" needs a [citation needed] qualifier.

Re: Blockchain could save investment banks up to $12B a year: Accenture

#38

Post by snarf21 »

tomblomfield wrote: post #34

Simply using software effectively could save banks billions a year. Not paying money to Accenture could also save billions.

Exactly. Note how the headline says up to $12B. Not paying Accenture to implement and then not use blockchain could save up to $50B every year!

Re: Blockchain could save investment banks up to $12B a year: Accenture

#39

Post by ng12 »

cashmonkey85 wrote: post #14
saemil wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with your sentiment. I do not see a scenario where financial institutions would agree to put their transactions into a distributed ledger with copies of the data (even encrypted) held by their competitors. If the financial institutions limit the ledger to computers within their control, what would be the benefit over a clustered database environment (I am assuming that most large financial institutions alread…

The problem is without blockchain you don't have a meaningless buzzword to sell bullsh*t to banks. Blockchain is a vital technology for this. Cryptocurrency is the future but I've never talked to more snake oil sales people than when talking to "blockchain" companies. I marvel at people's ability to sell nothingness

I worked in a consulting-type company for a bit and the most valuable lesson was that, generally speaking, nobody knows anything about anything. The most valuable institutions in the world have completely clueless people managing their tech and the ignorance only gets worse as you go up the chain.

It all boils down to "nobody got fired for buying IBM". Your blockchain initiative is only to get you noticed enough to get promoted or hired to a better position somewhere else. By the time anybody realizes how worthless it was you're long gone.

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