Distributed Ledger Technology and Blockchain

The financial sector is currently undergoing a major transformation, brought about by the rapid development and spread of new technologies. The confluence of ‘finance’ and ‘technology’ is often referred to as ‘Fintech’, typically describing compani...

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Main Authors: Natarajan, Harish, Krause, Solvej, Gradstein, Helen
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/134831513333483951/FinTech-note
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29053
id okr-10986-29053
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-290532021-09-10T09:38:11Z Distributed Ledger Technology and Blockchain Natarajan, Harish Krause, Solvej Gradstein, Helen DISTRIBUTED LEDGER TECHNOLOGY DLT BLOCKCHAIN FINANCIAL INCLUSION DIGITAL CURRENCY CRYPTOCURRENCY CONTRACTS The financial sector is currently undergoing a major transformation, brought about by the rapid development and spread of new technologies. The confluence of ‘finance’ and ‘technology’ is often referred to as ‘Fintech’, typically describing companies or innovations that employ new technologies to improve or innovate financial services. ‘Fintech’ developments are seen across all areas of the financial sector, including payments and financial infrastructures, consumer and SMElending, insurance, investment management, and venture financing. This note on distributed ledger technology (DLT) and blockchains is part of a series of short notes that explore new trends and developments in Fintech and analyze their potential relevance for WBG activities. Forthcoming notes in this series will cover marketplace lending, ‘InsureTech’, and other topics. This note outlines the mechanisms, origins, and key characteristics of DLT; the difference between ‘public’ and ‘private’ DLT; the technology’s main advantages, challenges, and risks; relevant examples of DLT applications (with a focus on financial sector applications); and a brief overview of activities by governments, multilateral organization, and other stakeholders in this space. Finally, this note proposes next steps for the World Bank to study and evaluate areas where DLT could potentially be integrated into World Bank financial sector operations. 2017-12-19T21:13:08Z 2017-12-19T21:13:08Z 2017 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/134831513333483951/FinTech-note http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29053 English FinTech Note;No. 1 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Working Paper
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic DISTRIBUTED LEDGER TECHNOLOGY
DLT
BLOCKCHAIN
FINANCIAL INCLUSION
DIGITAL CURRENCY
CRYPTOCURRENCY
CONTRACTS
spellingShingle DISTRIBUTED LEDGER TECHNOLOGY
DLT
BLOCKCHAIN
FINANCIAL INCLUSION
DIGITAL CURRENCY
CRYPTOCURRENCY
CONTRACTS
Natarajan, Harish
Krause, Solvej
Gradstein, Helen
Distributed Ledger Technology and Blockchain
relation FinTech Note;No. 1
description The financial sector is currently undergoing a major transformation, brought about by the rapid development and spread of new technologies. The confluence of ‘finance’ and ‘technology’ is often referred to as ‘Fintech’, typically describing companies or innovations that employ new technologies to improve or innovate financial services. ‘Fintech’ developments are seen across all areas of the financial sector, including payments and financial infrastructures, consumer and SMElending, insurance, investment management, and venture financing. This note on distributed ledger technology (DLT) and blockchains is part of a series of short notes that explore new trends and developments in Fintech and analyze their potential relevance for WBG activities. Forthcoming notes in this series will cover marketplace lending, ‘InsureTech’, and other topics. This note outlines the mechanisms, origins, and key characteristics of DLT; the difference between ‘public’ and ‘private’ DLT; the technology’s main advantages, challenges, and risks; relevant examples of DLT applications (with a focus on financial sector applications); and a brief overview of activities by governments, multilateral organization, and other stakeholders in this space. Finally, this note proposes next steps for the World Bank to study and evaluate areas where DLT could potentially be integrated into World Bank financial sector operations.
format Working Paper
author Natarajan, Harish
Krause, Solvej
Gradstein, Helen
author_facet Natarajan, Harish
Krause, Solvej
Gradstein, Helen
author_sort Natarajan, Harish
title Distributed Ledger Technology and Blockchain
title_short Distributed Ledger Technology and Blockchain
title_full Distributed Ledger Technology and Blockchain
title_fullStr Distributed Ledger Technology and Blockchain
title_full_unstemmed Distributed Ledger Technology and Blockchain
title_sort distributed ledger technology and blockchain
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2017
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/134831513333483951/FinTech-note
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29053
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