Wall Street remains bullish on blockchain despite hurdles to mainstream adoption: CNBC Wall Street remains bullish on blockchain despite hurdles to mainstream adoption: CNBC
Wall Street banking giants bet on blockchain's potential to reinvent financial infrastructures and optimize a $5 trillion industry by 2030.
2 min read
Updated: Jul. 26, 2023 at 4:10 pm UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
A new CNBC feature on July 26 highlighted that Wall Street’s view on blockchain technology remains bullish as the pressure from market dynamics and the need for innovation push the American financial system to explore blockchain technology for future growth.
.According to Tanaya Macheel of CNBC, Wall Street views blockchain as a solution to inefficiencies and time-consuming processes within the current financial system. This decentralized, transparent, and fast transaction method holds promise in a system that suffers from siloed infrastructures and slow transfers.
The CEO of Onyx at JP Morgan, Umar Farooq, shared with CNBC the belief that blockchain technology could revolutionize and rewrite financial market infrastructures. This potential for cross-platform integration and speed has banks such as JP Morgan City and Goldman Sachs betting on blockchain’s transformative power.
James Angel, a Business Professor at Georgetown, suggested that tokenization, a process by which real-world assets are converted into digital assets on a blockchain, is not a new concept, having been a part of financial markets for centuries.
However, according to analysts at Citi, Macheel noted that blockchain could optimize this process significantly, leading to a potential $5 trillion industry by 2030.
Despite these potential benefits, the transition to blockchain is not without its challenges. As Macheel noted, the financial system is one of the most heavily regulated industries in the world, and changes are often slow-moving.
Regulatory bodies such as the SEC and the Treasury must be involved in any significant change, adding further complexity to the process.
Yet, these challenges have not deterred some of the major players in the financial industry. Macheel reported that JP Morgan’s blockchain platform, Onyx, has already processed $700 billion in short-term loans since its launch in 2020, highlighting the practical applications of this technology in finance.
The success of blockchain and tokenization will depend mainly on user acceptance and adoption, as Ryan Rugg, Head of Digital Assets at CITI Bank, pointed out. According to Rugg, the less noticeable the technology is to a client, the faster its adoption rate is likely to be.
The potential benefits that blockchain technology offers in terms of efficiency, transparency, and speed make it a promising avenue for the future evolution of the financial sector. However, as CNBC’s feature suggests, significant challenges remain, and the journey to full integration of blockchain technology into Wall Street will require further exploration and time.
Author 
Liam 'Akiba' Wright
Also known as "Akiba," Liam Wright is a reporter, podcast producer, and Editor-in-Chief at CryptoSlate. He believes that decentralized technology has the potential to make widespread positive change.
