ASX Developing New Blockchain-Based Platform With Digital Asset and VMWare

David CoxAugust 27, 2019Last Updated: October 29, 2020

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Australian Securities Exchange Building New Blockchain Platform With VMWare, Digital Asset

The ASX (Australian Securities Exchange) is developing a new blockchain-based platform in partnership with companies Digital Asset and VMWare. This new platform will replace ASX’s existing registry, clearing and settlement system called CHESS (Clearing House Electronic Subregister System) by 2021. The Securities Exchange made an official announcement through a press release on Monday.

Since 2015, the ASX had started working on its CHESS replacement project for which, it partnered with the start-up Digital Asset Holdings (referred to as DA). Now, both the firms are collaborating with VMWare, based in the US, by signing a three-party MoU (memorandum of understanding) for developing the replacement platform based on DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology).

As per the announcement, the ASX wants to launch the new platform in March-April 2021. The project is on-track, and about 30 – 40 percent of work has been completed, disclosed the reports.

Peter Hiom, the deputy CEO of ASX, said that the MoU would not only help the firm expand its product offerings but also broaden their service locations all across Australia as well as New Zealand. Elaborating further, Hiom stated that their latest collaboration is a positive development which would help them support a broader array of industry-built DLT solutions. It also confirms their faith in the capability of DLT as they stay on track for delivering the new system as planned, added Hiom.

The CEO and Co-Founder of Digital Asset, Yuval Rooz, said that VMWare has now become a part of their mission of delivering a distributed infrastructure based on DAML to realize the technology’s potential.

Providing further details, ASX revealed that they are rolling out the new system within their Customer Development Environment in phases. For the project, the entities are utilizing Digital Asset Modelling Language, widely known as DAML. DAML is a blockchain-centered open-source programming language by DA which is used for building distributed applications.

While the initial focus of ASX will remain on the replacement of the CHESS, the collaboration will enable them to utilize the infrastructure for coming up with innovations and new services beyond settlement and clearing.

It is important to note that CHESS has been around for about 25 years. Moreover, the current platform of ASX handles around 2 trillion AUD in the form of registered equities. The platform processes about 5 billion AUD every day. Per second, CHESS processes up to 1,500 messages and about 300-500 transactions.