This paper is part of a series that explores how the investment opportunity set of institutional investors might evolve in the years and decades to come – the asset classes of tomorrow.
The research looks at the possibilities with blockchain, and other emerging technologies, for the investment industry.
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is literally a chain of (virtual / digital) blocks. Each block is made up of a set of digital information (such as a list of transactions) and the word chain highlights the fact that these blocks are linked. When a new piece of information is created – eg a new transaction – it becomes part of a new block added to the end of the blockchain. This means the data has provenance eg – where the asset came from, how its ownership has changed over time, and at what price.
