Banks test promise of blockchain as CCP replacement

“You can imagine a world where you don’t need clearing houses,” says senior banker

Could the technology behind bitcoin disrupt the clearing business?

Disruptive technologies are upsetting apple carts everywhere. Taxi drivers grumble about Uber undercutting fares, while Airbnb has done a number on the hotel industry.

Could the clearing business also be in line for disruption?

"You can imagine a world where you don't need clearing houses, at least not in the same role," says a prime brokerage executive at a European bank in London.

That is an important qualifier. The belief among many market participants is that distributed ledgers – the