Interoperable Blockchains May Be the Future of Finance but Have a Ways Yet to Go

On the issue of how cross-chain blockchain systems can help established financial institutions make their international transactions cheaper and faster, Alexei Zamyatin, a blockchain interoperability researcher at the Imperial College London and the co-founder and CEO of Interlay — a crypto interoperability platform — told Cointelegraph that although making use of platforms that were built with interoperability in mind would be the most efficient way, in general, a single issue is likely to persist: Furthermore, one of the most crucial aspects when it comes to the reduction of fees related to cross-border payments/settlements is the high cost of Anti-Money Laundering and Know Your Customer processes currently involved with most transactions. Regarding this, Michael Burgess, the chief operating officer of Ren — an open protocol that enables cross-chain transfers — told Cointelegraph that interoperable networks essentially remove any element of human error/involvement from the equation, thus making any ecosystem completely trustless, adding: However, on the subject, both Matsuo and Zamyatin pointed out that the first and foremost step that banks and legacy finance institutions need to take in order to ensure customer confidence is to start making use of open-source frameworks for any interoperable blockchains.

Due to this, Verdian added, financial institutions currently making use of SIAchain — or that are a part of SIAnet — will be able to navigate between various blockchain ecosystems while being empowered to embrace new business models and improve their operational efficiencies as well as provide their customers with new, innovative finance solutions. While such technologies definitely help ease out issues related to functionality and liquidity, due to the existence of stablecoins and various layer-two solutions most financial institutions today have the option to simply choose their preferred open blockchain ecosystem and roll out their various offerings without having to wait for the better interoperable blockchain solutions to enter the fray.

Timeline of Ren