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As companies scale transaction volumes and integrate with more and more third party software, they get a growing inflow of data and services. This increases the risk of data breaches and cyber-attacks.
The distributed ledger technology doesn’t apply to all business cases. However, if its usage is well grounded, it offers multiple benefits, including security, transparency, improved digital identity, and traceability of transactions.
Its principal use cases in fintech are smart contracts, smart assets (especially in trade finance), clearing and settlement, payments, digital identity (KYC), and cryptocurrencies.
A PWC research of the financial services sector and fintech has shown that around 77 per cent of financial services industry leaders are looking to adopt blockchain in some way by 2020.
Banks have shown interest in the technology, with nearly one-third of surveyed institutions noting that they have started developing strategies to integrate blockchain into their financial operations. Banks collaborate with blockchain startups, invest in the blockchain research, and set up accelerators.
Goldman Sachs is setting up a cryptocurrency trading desk in New York that will be up and running by the end of June 2018.
Across the ocean, a Swiss bank UBS is leading a pilot that aims to automate regulatory requirements for the MiFID II/MiFIR rules that take effect in 2018.
Tech giants are not lagging behind as well. According to CBInsights, Google was the second most active corporate investor in blockchain tech from 2012 to 2017. Now, Google is planning to adopt a blockchain-like ledger system, to differentiate its cloud business from the competition.
As we can see, both financial services incumbents and Big Techs are showing considerable interest in blockchain and, subsequently, luring blockchain talent.
The fight for blockchain talent
There is an astounding shortage of blockchain talent across the world, and the competition for it is incredibly fierce.
The scarcity of blockchain specialists has its impact on the global market and companies that want to implement blockchain solutions. According to the findings of the poll conducted by Synechron and TABB Group, about 40 per cent of firms do not have enough qualified blockchain engineers.
The shortage of available talent for blockchain was mentioned as a critical topic at the DTCC’s Fintech Symposium, held at the Grand Hyatt in New York City.
According to LinkedIn data, there are just around 75,000 blockchain and distributed ledger specialists in the US and about 16,000 in the UK. Eastern Europe offers an additional pool of roughly 7,500 blockchain engineers, a lucrative source of talent for Western companies that struggle finding relevant skills in their local markets.
