As the evolution of digital assets as a distinct class continues to accelerate, the FIX Trading Community is set to establish specific standards for the area, focusing on three core pillars: interoperability, regulation and distributed ledger technology (DLT) application.
Vince Turcotte
“We are entering a new era, marked by the emergence of new asset classes enriching traditional ones. We see a bright future ahead of us, with new and improved efficiencies and greater transparency across the financial services sector, benefiting all participants,” said Vince Turcotte, co-chair of FIX’s digital assets and technology committee.
One of the specific actions of FIX’s digital assets and technology committee will be to analyse the interoperability between competing digital asset-focused technologies, as well as unpacking the intricacies of the interplay between these technologies and the traditional financial space.
Another area of focus for FIX is the development of a common workflow design to make DLT and smart contracts more efficient.
Speaking to the specifics of this protocol, Turcotte explained: “Smart contracts, enhanced with the FIX protocol, will facilitate the settlement of both digital and traditional assets in a distributed ledger ecosystem. This is due to their programmable and interoperable nature as well as their ability to automate processes.
In addition, regulatory guidance will be offered to industry participants, with the standards aimed at easing any implementation burden.
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Goncalo Lima, co-chair of FIX’s digital assets and technology committee and capital markets strategy lead at DLT provider, R3, highlighted the important role of integration and interoperability in the scaling up of asset tokenisation, adding: “Establishing a set of standards, such as the ones developed by FIX, will play a vital role in lowering barriers to adoption, facilitating innovation and ensuring the secure exchange of data and value across the ever-evolving capital markets landscape.
“We invite community members to join us as we look to determine how best to harness the power of these new technologies for the greater good of the industry.”