Digital Asset rolls out blockchain platform allowing confidential trades

According to a report issued by the company, the new platform provides a solution to confidentiality issues holding back adoption of the nascent technology in financial markets. Blockchain is a shared record of transactions and asset ownership that is maintained by a network of computers on the internet. Therefore, every user on a network could potentially have access to the details of every transaction.

Still, while this reduces risks associated with discrepancies in data records held by different companies, it also makes it inadequate for use in certain securities markets where participants would be at a disadvantage if they disclosed their positions.

The platform solves the privacy issue by dividing the distributed ledger of transactions into two components: one where participants can confidentially store their transactions data, and another that is shared by all participants without the confidential data, according to the report.

Moreover, the new platform will form the basis of the technology that Digital Asset is building for financial institutions including Australian stock exchange ASX and US post trade services provider the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation.