Distributed Ledger Technology Working Group

Purpose

This Working Group’s primary objectives are to focus on the education and creation of thought leadership for ISSA members engaged in Digital Assets (DA) and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and to create an early awareness of developments in this new market such as Decentralized Finance (DeFI) and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT), including recommendations to ISSA members on how to approach it.

Scope and Key Deliverables

The nature of DA and DLT solutions are constantly evolving in an immature marketplace. The Working Group areas of focus include topics which would benefit from best practices, industry standardization and interoperability between participants. These topics span DLT, DA, Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC), Stablecoins, NFT and DeFi. They are selected by the relative priority of the participating organisations but are approached from a Securities Services perspective.

The current in scope topics for 2024 are:

(1) DLTProject Success

Create an article (rather than a white paper) that outlines

  • The successful attributes of DLT projects
  • Where they differ from traditional (and even agile) project methods
  • The possible approaches of the POC and MVP in relation to the delivery as compared to the big bang delivery.
  • The issues that are likely to be encountered in a DLT project; and
  • Solutions and best practices for DLT projects with a wide market reach.

Key Deliverables: A report summarizing the subgroup’s key findings

(2) DLT –In the Real World Survey 2024

Initiation, production and analysis of the 2024 DLT in the Real World survey in partnership with Value Exchange

Key Deliverables: A report summarizing the key findings of the 2024 survey. It also highlights the main changes since last year.

(3) DLT – Data Standards 2024

This sub-group will focus on DLT – Data Standards. More than three years ago, the ISSA published a “Business Requirements Document” outlining the data attributes that need to be captured in order to uniquely identify a digital asset. This document covered aspects such as forks, chains and governance, as well as other required fields.
The industry responded to this paper by addressing many of the required data elements. It also addressed the industry’s challenges.
The new working group will update the previous work and see if there are other elements that require data standardization and identification. These elements have emerged over the last three years.

Key Deliverables: Update of the original paper to reflect today’s DLT environment.

Publications

Podcasts / Articles / Videos

  • DLT panel discussion at SIBOS 
  • Podcast “DLT in the Real World”  MarketNode discussing bond issuance as a prime use case for DLT
  • Podcast “DLT in the Real World” Clearstream’s launch of the new D7 platform
  • Podcast “DLT in the Real World” 2022 Survey findings (10/2022)
  • Podcast “DLT in the Real World” HQLAx and Deutsche Boerse (07/2022)
  • Podcast “DLT in the Real World” SDX and regulated Blockchain (03/2022)
  • Podcast “DLT in the Real World” DTCC’s Private Market Initiative (02/2022)
  • Podcast on “DLT – Voice of the Customer” Findings (11/2021)
  • Podcast of “DLT in the Real World Survey” Findings (11/2021)
  • Podcast Highlights of the ISSA & Value Exchange “DLT in the Real World Survey” (10/2020)
  • ISSA Article Tokenization, August 2019

Reports

  • Digital Asset Custody Deciphered Report
  • Digital Asset Custody Deciphered Key Takeaway
  • DLT in the Real World Survey 2023 – Key Findings (07/2023)
  • DLT in the Real World Survey 2022 – Analysis (10/2022)
  • DLT In the Real World Survey 2022 – Key Findings (07/2022) >2 MB
  • Revised DLT Asset Identifiers Matrix (07/2022) > Excel 417 kB
  • Report “Crypto Assets: Moving from Theory to Practise – Revision 2022 (04/2022) > PDF 973 kB
  • Report “Blueprint for CBDC in Post-Trade Settlement” (12/2021) > PDF 1.8 MB
  • DLT In the Real World Survey 2021 – Key Findings (09/2021) > 285 kB
  • DLT Asset Identifiers Matrix (09/2021)
  • Report “DLT – Voice of the Customer Survey 2021” (08/2021) > PDF
  • Industry Survey on “Adoption of DLT and Crypto-Assets” First Results (11/2019)
  • Report “Crypto-Assets: Moving from Theory to Practice” (11/2019) > PDF 1.2 MB
  • Report on “Tokenization – the Elegant Way Forward?” (08/2019) > PDF 321 kB
  • Report “Infrastructure for Crypto-Assets: A Review by Infrastructure Providers” (10/2018) > PDF 787 kB
  • DLT “Principles for Industry-Wide Acceptance” (06/2018) > PDF 1.2 MB
  • Report “General Meeting Proxy Voting on Distributed Ledger”, Product Requirements (11/2017) > PDF 685 kB
  • Cross-Reference Table aligning the Proxy Voting DLT solution with ISO 20 (11/2017) > PDF 395 kB
Urs Sauer DLT video

Working Group Co-Chairs

  • Steve Everett, TMX Group
  • Glen Fernandes, Euroclear

Executive Sponsor

  • Vivekanand Ramgopal, Tata Consultancy Services

Institutions Represented by Experts in the Working Group

  • Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX)
  • Accenture Plc
  • Acupay System LLC
  • Archax Holding Ltd.
  • B3 Brazilian Exchange and OTC
  • Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. (BBVA)
  • Banque Internationale à Luxembourg SA
  • BNP Paribas S.A.
  • Broadridge Financial Solutions
  • Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.
  • Bursa Malaysia Berhad
  • Central Securities Clearing System Plc
  • Citi
  • Cofinpro
  • Datos Insights
  • DBS Bank
  • Deposito Central de Valores (DCV)
  • Deutsche Bank AG
  • Deutsche Börse Group
  • Digital Asset Holdings, LLC
  • Euroclear
  • Euronext Securities – Monte Titoli
  • European Central Securities Depositories Association ECSDA
  • FIS
  • Fnality International Limited
  • Grupo Bolsa Mexicana de Valores
  • HSBC Holding Plc
  • Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A.
  • JP Morgan Chase & Co.
  • KBC Group NV
  • KDD Central Securities Clearing Corporation
  • Korea Securities Depository KSD
  • Maroclear S.A.
  • Metaco SA
  • Myriad Group Technologies Ltd
  • Nasdaq Inc.
  • Northern Trust Corporation
  • NowCM
  • NSDL Group India
  • R3 LLC
  • Royal Bank of Canada
  • S&P Global / IHS Markit
  • SEB Group
  • Singapore Exchange Limited
  • Standard Chartered Bank
  • State Street Corporation
  • Strate (Pty) Ltd
  • SWIFT SCRL
  • Swiss Re Ltd
  • Tata Group
  • Taurus
  • The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation
  • The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation
  • The Global Blockchain Business Council
  • The Investment Association
  • The Mauritius Commercial Bank Ltd.
  • The Standard Bank of South Africa
  • The Stock Exchange of Thailand
  • TMX Group Limited
  • U.S. Bank N.A.
  • UBS Group AG