A Bloomberg published on January 23, 2019, states the VC arms of Nasdaq Inc. and Citigroup Inc. are among a group of firms that has invested $20 million in Symbiont.io Inc. The company is a blockchain-powered startup which aims to leverage the technology for the benefit of capital markets.
Leveraging Blockchain
Blockchain technology’s use in the capital markets is not something entirely new. In October 2018, there were regarding the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation’s () study on blockchain technology which concluded that it could scale to 100 million equity trades per day.
Even then, one would expect companies to maintain a safe distance from crypto ventures seeing the sorry state of the digital currencies market, and DLT’s limitations in and transaction speed.
However, according to Mark Smith, the CEO of Symbiont.io, the immense potential of DLT in the capital markets industry has forced the Wall Street giants to throw their weight behind startups which aim to leverage the technology, and Symbiont.io is no exception.
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Series B Fund Round Lead by Nasdaq Ventures
Launched in April 2017, Nasdaq’s fintech investment arm lead Symbiont’s series B funding round. Other important investors that participated in the funding round include the Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd., , and Citigroup Inc., among others.
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Smith stated that the industry is steadily entering a critical phase with regard to the applicability of blockchain technology. People are now thinking seriously about where it makes sense to implement DLT and where it doesn’t. He added:
“We are leaving the peak of the hype cycle and entering the trough of disillusionment, especially for people who inappropriately applied this technology hoping it would become a panacea for solving all their problems.”
Symbiont’s Smart Contract Platform to Aid Financial Institutions
The reports by Bloomberg mentions that Symbiont.io has its own blockchain and smart contract platform called Assembly.
The platform is aimed towards financial institutions which can use it to manage the vast amount of data in capital markets hassle-free. The platform will largely lessen the time it takes for settlement of syndicated loans and will also help in organizing bond market data in a safe, transparent, and orderly manner.
Nasdaq has been very active in the cryptocurrency and blockchain market in recent times.
BTCManager on December 6, 2018, how the American stock exchange invested in the upcoming cryptocurrency exchange ErisX. The stock exchange platform is also to launch its Crypto futures product in Q1 2019.
Published at Fri, 25 Jan 2019 07:00:08 +0000