Calastone’s DLT project slated for 2019 launch

Calastone, the buy-side vendor connecting trading of funds with bank distributors, says it will migrate its technology to blockchain in 2019.

The London-based funds-transaction network provider told DigFin last year it had successfully executed a day’s worth of trading in a proof of concept, which was first announced in 2017.

The company still has yet to discuss the specs around the blockchain it has built. But moving all activities to a distributed ledger some time next year – rather than merely offer an alternative channel for existing customers – is still a bold move.

All processes can take place in a blockchain’s distributed infrastructure, says Andrew Tomlinson, chief marketing officer. The company is working with fund managers and banks on a distributed ledger solution, but he declined to name them.

DLT should help the industry move past existing processes that add cost and complexity to how buy sides and wholesale channels manage and record fund subscriptions and redemptions, Tomlinson says.

Ken Tregidgo, deputy CEO, says the company’s blockchain has solved issues of scale and processing. The challenge is adapting it to business models. “We are much faster than the market needs,” he said.

Calatone now has 1,400 customers and over 14,000 trading links across 35 markets. If it does actually move everything to a distributed ledger over the next year, that will represent a lot of firms that will be encouraged to migrate their operations.