Blockchain Transformations of Financial Services

Today’s global financial system full of inefficiencies. In this module, you’ll learn how blockchain technology has the potential to disrupt the core functions of the financial services industry, and for the better. By the end of this module, you’ll be able to describe six inefficiencies in the financial services industry. You’ll learn how blockchain technology can be leveraged to do things better, on cost, speed, risk management, innovation, and adaptability. You’ll be able to identify eight core functions of the financial services sector, and explain how blockchain can disrupt these functions—cutting out the middleman or causing them to radically change their operations for the better.

Human error is a common cause of accounting mistakes. Lack of transparency allows greed to flourish. People can “cook the books” to hide their wrongdoings, and double-entry accounting can’t always handle new business models, like micro-transactions. In this module, we’ll explore how triple-entry accounting on a blockchain can solve these problems. Shareholders, auditors, and regulators could access a World Wide Ledger to check a company’s health and compliance in real time. We’ll also explore how CFOs and financial management can balance the hype and the hope of blockchain technology, and make key decisions about blockchain for their enterprise.

The global payment system is the lifeblood of world commerce. In the Internet era, the sluggish pace, high cost, and opacity of international funds transfers, both corporate and consumer, have been a source of frustration. In this module we’ll explore the ways in which blockchain technology can improve the speed and lower the cost of global payments. We’ll consider how decentralized models of finance and the emerging cryptoasset class will leave incumbents—banks and digital conglomerates alike—scrambling to avoid obsolescence and irrelevance. With stewardship and responsible leadership, blockchain will usher in a new era of financial services that is more open, inclusive, efficient, secure, and free. If we get this right, new economic systems will emerge to generate greater prosperity for the many, rather than more wealth for the few.

Blockchain alone is just a tool. In order for this technology to fulfill its long-term promise, humans must lead. Rather than relying on state-based institutions, blockchain must be primarily self-governed through collaborations of civil society, private sector, government, and stakeholders in non-state networks. In this module, we discuss the idea of blockchain governance networks and explain how they can support blockchain stewardship at three levels: The platform level, the application level, and the ecosystem level. As well, you will learn about the conditions that are necessary for a blockchain-based hub of innovation to succeed.