Juniper Research has found that the number of cross-border transactions recorded on the blockchain will surge to 1.3 billion by 2023, a CAGR of 82% over the next 4 years. The value of transactions recorded on the blockchain will thus reach an unprecedented $3.4 trillion; a CAGR of 87% over the next 5 years.
Juniper’s new research, Blockchain for Financial Services: Opportunities, Challenges & Forecasts 2019-2030, argues that blockchain will become critical for financial institutions aiming to improve their bottom line. Juniper anticipates that banks stand to save close to $27 billion a year by 2030 through blockchain implementation.
Leading Financial Services Vendors
Juniper assessed 19 blockchain vendors; scoring their level of agility, presence and innovation, the complexity of their blockchain solutions and prospects in the field. It ranked the 5 leading vendors in the space as follows:
- IBM
- Infosys Finacle
- Interbit
- Deloitte
- Digital Asset
IBM remains the indisputable leader in the space; having attracted dozens of clients in financial institutions and developed mature blockchain products, including a trade finance platform and bespoke work on areas ranging from securities digitisation to derivatives. Meanwhile, Infosys Finacle continues to develop its blockchain-agnostic solutions through its Blockchain Framework and Finacle Trade Connect; gaining a strong customer base among banks.
Smart Contracts at the Core of Blockchain’s Offering
Juniper found that smart contracts will be key for financial institutions, particularly in the context of increasing accuracy and transparency. This is exemplified by JP Morgan Chase’s use of smart contracts to reduce compliance costs via the Quorum platform, a distributed ledger transaction network built on Ethereum.
The research cited continually rising compliance costs, particularly in North American and West European markets, as critical drivers behind bank spend on innovative solutions such as smart contracts.
