As global financial markets increasingly adopt distributed ledger technology (DLT) and digital assets, the need for technological interoperability is clear: frictionless global payments and financial transactions require systems that can speak to each other. The vision for the digital markets of the future and how to achieve this interoperability, 然而, 不太清楚, 根据演讲者的说法 大西洋理事会的 专题讨论“转移资金:国内和国际互操作性”.
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存的詹妮弗·奥洛克报道, 执行董事, 创新战略, 加入了包括费德里科·格林伯格在内的专家小组, 高级经济学家, IMF; Tony McLaughlin, 新兴支付和业务发展, Citi; Tom Zschach, 首席创新官, SWIFT; and Jordan Bleicher, 国内财政局副局长的高级顾问, U.S. 财政部，来讨论这些挑战, 机会, 以及数字账本技术在支付领域的局限性
The panelists voiced the need for industry collaboration to address the interoperability challenge and avoid siloed technologies and platforms, which would only recreate the problems of the past: increasing transaction costs and limiting the benefits of trading. 主持人Ananya Kumar, 副主任, 地缘经济中心, 大西洋理事会, 指出, 虽然, 这两种截然不同的方法, 或者模型, 互操作性在讨论中很明显:单个, 全球通用的技术标准或平台, 或者是连接各个平台的桥梁和纽带.
Firms’ earlier technology decisions around DLT already are creating a fragmented marketplace, O’rourke警告. 看看最接近生产的项目, “What we’re seeing across the globe are smaller DLT deployments at subscale that have isolated liquidity pools,”她说。. “This disparate marketplace is going to challenge our ability for a harmonized global solution.”
避免数字孤岛
The panelists agreed that market participants and key stakeholders need to work together now to identify the right use cases and ensure the benefits of implementing DLT outweigh the risks.
游戏行业不可能在一个新平台上“打开开关”, SWIFT的Zschach指出, 并且必须首先关注互操作性. New solutions must consider access to established payment rails to avoid creating a “digital island,这只会增加碎片化，减缓采用速度.
The potential for new digital currency solutions to enable greater access to financial services and to introduce cross-border efficiencies must be balanced with the risks that new forms of money can create, IMF的格林伯格说. That includes new cyber-risks as well as traditional risks such as bank disintermediation, 这可能会增加波动性.
花旗的McLaughlin补充说，DLT并不是所有问题的答案. It’s important to ask what DLT does better than traditional financial services when identifying use cases. 最初引入权力的无信任交易, many blockchain capabilities may not be effective or desirable in the regulated financial markets.
牙膏从管子里出来了
While there still are many unknowns, the conversation already has moved beyond “should we use DLT?到“我们应该如何以及在哪里使用它”?”
存完成了 数字美元项目的成功试点 in 2022. The test helped 存 evaluate both the multinetwork approach to interoperability as well as the architectural elements of a solution. “There are so many open issues around these architectural decisions right now,奥罗克说. “How do we connect networks that have been built up with different architectural approaches in mind?”
A pragmatic approach to interoperability will have to recognize that “the toothpaste is out of the tube,”她说。. “目前已经存在单一资产网络. 存作为金融市场基础设施的工作, 或FMI, 是支持将这些网络连接在一起.跟着飞行员说, 存 created a sandbox to continue testing client DLT use cases and connectivity solutions.
IMF’s Grinberg acknowledged the real-world challenges of achieving a single global standard, but he 指出 that the proliferation of bridges and interlinking systems could create inefficiencies, 增加了成本, 新的操作风险, 尤其是对小公司来说. 如果一个标准是不现实的, the industry’s aim at least should be compatible systems and technologies that comply with common standards to limit the number of connections, 他说.
It’s still too early to tell which interoperability model will win, according to Zschach. 一个单一的, 统一的平台是引人注目的, SWIFT正在与行业参与者合作探索这种可能性. But SWIFT also launched a sandbox to explore a technology-agnostic interlinking solution. “We want to help the industry and the community figure out the right way to [enable interoperability],Zschach说.
市场在观望
The current uncertainty around the right architecture creates a problem for businesses, 存的O 'Rourke说. “Banks and market participants can’t afford to invest in multiple, competing solutions.” Starting down the road with one solution creates enormous technological debt that makes it hard to change directions later.
"市场正在观望，" O 'Rourke说. How do we help them make these hard technology decisions when we know the technology is likely to evolve?
没有水晶球来预测未来的解决方案前景, 存正在寻找市场本身和当前的发展方向. “The marketplace has already created distinct networks that are predominantly single asset,奥罗克说. “我们必须弄清楚如何将这些联系在一起.”
优先考虑当前需求
While bridging the gaps among disparate technologies may not be as visionary or as efficient as a single, 协调的全球市场, 这种方法解决了市场参与者的直接业务需求, O’rourke强调. “Right now, we’re seeing localized solutions that are creating a fragmented marketplace.结果是, 存 currently is focusing on bridging solutions – 虽然 it ultimately will support whichever approach, 或方法, 客户和市场接受.
“The industry needs to take a collaborative approach to addressing some of the significant open issues that we still have around access, 标准和互操作性,奥罗克说.
“There already are organizations and governments that are moving forward quickly with a very significant amount of velocity around creating their own solutions,她接着说. “如果我们保持沉默，或者我们在这场对话中没有更强有力的声音, then we may be … reverse engineering into solutions that already have been created and markets that already have been accessed, as opposed to dictating a best practice that could really move the ball forward. 现在就需要进行这种协作对话.”