The operator of the Swiss Stock Exchange, the SIX Group, has recently revealed it’ll launch its new blockchain-based exchange, SIX Digital Exchange (SDX), in the second half of this year. The platform will initially run alongside its existing SIX platform.
According to Reuters, it will be using blockchain technology to speed up trading, a significant improvement over the SIX exchange, which “involves three steps to complete a trade, often over several days.” Two of these steps are eliminated by using blockchain technology, it notes.
Romeo Lacher, the chairman of the SIX Group, told Reuters on the sidelines of a Swiss Finance Institute conference that the firm is ready to list digital assets on the new trading platform. It will offer a range of stocks on launch, but will add new stocks and bonds in the future, Reuters notes.
Assets like exchange-traded funds and tokenized assets. These could see the SDK list various securities and even other assets, such as paintings and vintage cars. Lacher noted SIX expects the SDK to completely replace its existing system in about 10 years.
The digitization of these assets is set to undergo a thorough rigorous review process before their tokens are added to the exchange. The firm is set to operate under FINMA’s standards, as the SDX will be a fully regulated exchange.
While there are other platforms eyeing similar approaches, SIX is believed its technology is ahead of the competition, and is reportedly going to show it off by raising money through it in H2. Lacher was quoted as saying:
We want to start with our own Security Token Offering. The supervisory board will probably decide (on the project) in late summer.
As CryptoGlobe covered, the Swiss stock exchange announced it was building a fully regulated blockchain-based trading platform back in July of last year. In August, one of the group’s executives revealed bitcoin is “hope and hype,” but noted they believe “digital assets are here [to] stay.”
Notably, FINMA has published guidelines to support initial coin offerings (ICOs) back in February of last year. The country’s authorities have been trying to maintain Switzerland’s leading status when it comes to the nascent cryptocurrency industry.
