After years of grabbing global headlines, it seems bitcoin is making inroads with employees at exchanges and solutions providers in the sector.
At the World Exchange Congress this week, bitcoin wasn't a frequent topic of discussion, appearing only in conversations spurred by evangelists. Still, while many companies are still trying to make sense of applications for distributed ledger tech (DLT), their employees appear to be embracing the general idea as hobbyists, using cryptocurrencies as a way to learn – and earn – on the side.
For example, Lazlo Szabo, a member of the IT department at the publicly owned Budapest Stock Exchange, wasn't able to provide much insight into what his firm is doing to get up to speed on developments in the blockchain sector.
"For the company, it's a lot – we have another problems to solve before we take a huge step," Szabo said, noting the exchange is already upgrading its trading engine.
Still, that isn’t stopping Szabo from checking websites CoinMarketCap, a cryptocurrency price and information page, daily with about five of his other co-workers.
He told CoinDesk:
"We are trading bitcoin or other altcoins, about five people altogether. It's not so much. It's a hobby, you check the news and technologies."
Szabo went on to suggest he believes the technology will "become more common", though he's not sure when or how it will end up being applied. The case is much the same for Elie Cezard, fixed income business director at exchange tech provider Trading Screen.
Cezard reported being active in his local blockchain communities, and said Trading Screen had even been in discussions to add bitcoin as an FX option, though the plan never quite came to fruition.
Like other peers at the event, Cezard sees more potential for the tech in back-end settlement and post-trade clearing sectors.
"Our clients are institutional investors and, for the moment, there's no way we can really get institutional investors to go into cryptocurrencies," he said. Still, he acknowledged that other companies are moving in that direction.
Coming soon
Also notable were the number of respondents who spoke generally about digital currencies and blockchain, with some being quick to see applications for the tech, and others seeming unsure of just what to make of it.
Paul Bwiso, CEO for the Uganda Securities Exchange, the nation's principal stock exchange, sees the appeal in bitcoin as a kind of virtual money. Given the importance of the mobile phone in Africa’s financial system, he sees the link, even if he doesn’t believe it’s an opportunity for his operation.