Blockchain, also commonly known as distributed ledger technology (DLT), has been around since 2009, creating market buzz and inciting widely divergent opinions since the inception of bitcoin. In its early years, adoption of DLT in financial services was low due to regulatory and privacy concerns, technology nascency, and complex consortia economic models.

During the past 12 months or more, however, the financial industry has embraced blockchain for various use cases, including most notably central bank digital currencies, digital assets and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and the beginnings of Web 3.0: • Central Banking Digital Currencies (CBDC): Nine out of 10 central banks are experimenting with digital versions of fiat currencies in retail and wholesale sectors,¹ while policymakers are preparing regulatory frameworks for crypto assets. CBDCs are opening up a whole new economic model through programmable wallets and atomic transfers, both of which help drive financial inclusion. Backed by regulators and central banks, CBDCs can build on existing two-tier financial systems while leveraging DLT to explore innovation potential.

• Tokens and Digital Assets: 72% of asset managers are building digital assets tokenization solutions,2 and many assets (e.g., bonds) are already digitized. Interest in crypto has risen from consumers to institutional investors. The rise and adoption of tokens and digital assets has accelerated the development of new economic models around DLT beyond merely a technology or efficiency play. Capital markets have already operationalized digitization of financial instruments, new asset classes (art, real estate, in-gaming) are gaining adoption, and the emergence of virtual world is further ushering the growth of tokens and digital assets.

• Web3.0 / 3rd Generation Blockchain: DLT evolution to solve for many complex challenges around security, scalability, and decentralization has given birth to Web3.0, 3 wherein an entirely new internet stack is being built, with seamless execution of smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps). It has given rise to alternate financial institutions, referred to as decentralized autonomous organizations, which can run several banking functions including lending and deposits without any intermediaries.