Australia: we are not doing Blockchain anymore

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Well, it is more embarrassing to have anything to do with crypto today than it was two weeks ago. Two weeks ago, if you were at a traditional financial institution, and you were working on their blockchain project, look, that was a lot less cool than it was in 2017 when everyone launched their blockchain projects, but it was fine. “Oh right the blockchain project,” people would shrug. Today, less so. Anyway:

Australia’s stock exchange has apologised for abandoning a years-long plan to upgrade its clearing and settlement system to a modern blockchain-based platform after a series of delays.

The Australian Securities Exchange’s move to drop the upgrade of its clearing housing system calls time on a project that critics say has cost the country its head-start in developing a more efficient trading system.

Damian Roche, chair of ASX, apologised for the disruption caused by the botched upgrade. “We have concluded that the path we were on will not meet ASX’s and the market’s high standards. There are significant technology, governance and delivery challenges that must be addressed,” he said.

I feel like “upgrade its clearing and settlement system to a modern blockchain-based platform” sounded very plausible and cutting-edge in 2015, when this actually launched, but now it has a weirdly retro feel.

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