Thread by @nikhileshde

The dream team of @baidakova and De is back. We're live at #DTCCFintech, hosted by @The_DTCC today in New York. Thread for @coindesk starts here:

@baidakova @The_DTCC @coindesk Now on stage: @MikeBodson and R. Martin Chavez of @GoldmanSachs #DTCCfintech

Takeaways:
- GS has code on Github
- GS is trying to provide open-access APIs and such
- the US dollar has dematerialized to some degree already
-- (your money is not sitting in piles of cash)
#DTCCfintech

"It's easy to imagine sovereign currencies becoming digital assets," Chavez says #DTCCfintech

It looks like we may get to a point where you can use two cryptocurrencies for delivery vs payments purposes against each other, Chavez says #DTCCfintech

.@MikeBodson: Do you see a tipping point for non-fiat-backed cryptocurrencies? ... is there value to a non-fiat currency?

Chavez: I'm sure there's a value, I'm not sure what the value is #DTCCFintech

Interesting conversation, but not very blockchain/crypto-heavy. Up now: Scott Mullins of @awscloud, Rob Palatnink of @The_DTCC, @dbtreat from @Accenture and Nathanial Rand of @StateStreet #DTCCfintech

Mullins is discussing how @awscloud found possible use cases for blockchain last year. Two services available this year: Amazon Managed Blockchain (decentralized trust) and Quantum Ledger Database (don't need to worry about trust, but need a "high-performant" DB) #DTCCfintech

.@The_DTCC has made progress on a number of projects, including its mainframe application (which took ~3 years) and internal work w/ Hyperledger, Palatnick says #DTCCfintech

.@StateStreet is working on internal use cases, heading toward production deployment, Rand says #DTCCfintech

The technology is improving, Palatnick says. Code is becoming more efficient, etc (though this doesn't really solve the issue of 'how do you run a company with four people and a dog and a laptop') #DTCCfintech

Any significant technology has probably taken about 15 years to get to maturity, Palatnick says #DTCCfintech

I think 2019 is the year when the technology is brought to production in a number of areas, Rand says #DTCCfintech

Brief networking break; now back with @JenniferPeve (@The_DTCC), @paul_l_chou (@ledgerx), Bob McElrath (@DigitalAssets), Justin Chapman (@NorthernTrust) and Kelly Loeffler (@Bakkt) #DTCCfintech

Crypto assets are the innovation of the moment, says @JenniferPeve in her opening comments #DTCCfintech

.@ledgerx has been operating since 2014, though it went live in 2017, @paul_l_chou says #DTCCfintech

.@paul_l_chou: "We are both a central clearing organization and a swap execution facility," meaning @ledgerx both custodies BTC and settles contracts (LX offers BTC options and other derivatives) #dtccfintech

Chapman says he's making sure @NorthernTrust invests appropriately to use digital assets in a safe manner #dtccfintech

.@Bakkt is approaching 1 year old, and is "really building institutional infrastructure," building on work its parent firm ICE has been conducting since 2014, Loeffler says #DTCCfintech

"We're building on custody" Loeffler says, referring to @Bakkt's efforts to custody bitcoin itself and settle contracts through ICE Clear US #DTCCfintech

.@Bakkt is also applying for qualified custodian status through @NYDFS, Loeffler says. The third focus for the company is use cases, referring to plans to facilitate payment options for @Starbucks as one example #DTCCfintech

Asked what problem is being solved by crypto, McElrath says "the poster child is bitcoin, and the problem is ... mistrust of [banks]," noting that BTC may be seen as a hedge against large-scale [financial] failures #DTCCfintech

DLT tools make it easier for @NorthernTrust to conduct certain forms of issuances/transactions, Chapman says #DTCCfintech

I think a lot of the ethos in bitcoin has been 'how do we decentralize things so there's no one central point of failure', @paul_l_chou says #DTCCfintech

Finding the talent to build blockchain tools is difficult, McElrath says: "There are 100 open jobs for every qualified candidate" #DTCCfintech

"What we need is to somehow bring those [qualified] people in," McElrath says. "We need cryptographers." #DTCCfintech

Some developers are more interested in building on ethereum on their own "for a few $ETH under the table" than they are in working for major institutions, McElrath says #DTCCfintech

"I think it's been thematic that the average person is not well-suited to handle keys from a technical point of view ... but part of the beauty of bitcoin is people can store money in ways that they want, that we can't even touch," @paul_l_chou says. #DTCCfintech

"I think we're underestimating the people who want to hold assets themselves," @paul_l_chou says #DTCCfintech

Loeffler says the crypto space now feels like the wild wild west, similarly to other commodity markets when @ICE_Markets was formed: "Bitcoin is a commodity" #DTCCfintech

In most commodity industries there's a lot of analysis that happens on the supply side, McElrath says. Mining is the supply side for bitcoin, and there needs to be more analysis of this area #DTCCfintech

Loeffler says, in light of the bear market, she thinks it was encouraging to see a) they could still raise an investment round and b) receive feedback on @Bakkt's proposed plans #DTCCfintech

.@JenniferPeve now asking the panelists how they're approaching non-bitcoin cryptos #dtccfintech

Chapman says @NorthernTrust has issued assets natively

@paul_l_chou says he doesn't see a viable alternative to $BTC

#DTCCfintech

Loeffler says she'd like to see traditional asset managers get more involved in the space #DTCCfintech

Bitcoin's goal is stated in the beginning of its white paper: a decentralized payment system, @neha says in the closing keynote at #DTCCfintech

. @neha believes that the future is one that will have a layer for transactions, a layer for smart contracts, etc, but she doesn't know if that will use bitcoin or something else #DTCCfintech

.@neha is using BitTorrent as an example, noting that it gave rise to Netflix and other services. A similar change is happening now with bitcoin #DTCCfintech

Blockchain has become an umbrella term for a number of technologies, @neha says #DTCCfintech

Some common criticisms of blockchain: it doesn't scale, is too public, and cannot be controlled, @neha says #DTCCfintech

1. Ledgers should be an anchor of trust, not a data store;
2. Publicly verifiable doesn't mean publicly visible;
3. You should build permissions systems on open protocols, @neha says #DTCCfintech

The Lightning Network is one example of @neha's first point; zero-knowledge proofs are how devs can build point 2 #DTCCfintech

.@neha says she hopes the next wave of development comes in that top right corner #DTCCfintech