This week’s must-know stories in the Agentic AI, FinTech and Digital Asset space. The latest edition of the Agentic AI & The Future of Finance Newsletter is here:
Image Credits: shutterstock.com
This week’s must-know stories in the Agentic AI, FinTech and Digital Asset space. The latest edition of the Agentic AI & The Future of Finance Newsletter is here:
https://mailchi.mp/bussmannadvisory.com/openai-oracle-sign-300b-cloud-deal-microsoft-taps-anthropic-ai-openai-wins-ms-backing-blackrock-eyes-tokenized-etfsImage Credits: shutterstock.com
This week’s must-know stories in the Agentic AI, FinTech and Digital Asset space. The latest edition of the Agentic AI & The Future of Finance Newsletter is here:
Image Credits: shutterstock.com
As we navigate the rapidly evolving landscape of financial technology, one development stands out as both a powerful defensive tool and a potential source of new vulnerabilities: Agentic AI. Unlike traditional AI systems that simply respond to commands, agentic AI can autonomously make decisions, learn from experiences, and take independent actions to protect financial systems.
The financial sector has always been at the forefront of cybersecurity innovation out of necessity. With financial institutions managing trillions in assets and processing billions of transactions daily, they remain prime targets for increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. A successful attack can result not only in financial losses but also in devastating reputational damage and regulatory consequences.
Traditional cybersecurity approaches in finance have relied on rule-based systems, manual monitoring, and reactive measures. While these have served as a foundation, they increasingly struggle to keep pace with the volume, velocity, and sophistication of modern cyber threats. This is where agentic AI is creating a paradigm shift in how we approach cybersecurity.
According to recent research, 75% of financial firms surveyed by the Bank of England in 2024 reported already using AI in some capacity, with cybersecurity being one of the primary applications. This adoption is accelerating, with 76% of financial organizations planning to implement agentic AI systems within the next 12 months.
Agentic AI represents a fundamental evolution from earlier AI implementations. While traditional AI agents might perform specific tasks like monitoring network traffic or flagging suspicious emails, agentic AI systems can autonomously detect threats, make decisions about how to respond, and take protective actions with minimal human intervention.
One of the most powerful applications of agentic AI in financial cybersecurity is its ability to provide continuous, real-time monitoring of systems for suspicious activities. These systems process vast amounts of data, identifying patterns and anomalies that would be impossible for human teams to detect.
For example, JPMorgan Chase, has implemented agentic AI systems that can detect unusual transaction patterns across millions of accounts simultaneously. These systems don’t just flag potential issues — they can take immediate action to prevent fraud, such as temporarily freezing suspicious transactions until they can be verified.
Agentic AI is transforming how financial institutions evaluate potential vulnerabilities across their networks and applications. These systems can continuously scan for weaknesses, prioritize responses based on severity and potential impact, and dynamically adjust security protocols in response to emerging threats.
Citigroup has established an AI governance board that actively reviews AI-driven decisions for fairness and bias mitigation, ensuring that automated risk assessments remain accurate and unbiased. This approach allows for more comprehensive security coverage while reducing the burden on human security teams.
Perhaps the most significant advantage of agentic AI in cybersecurity is its ability to move from reactive to proactive defense. By analyzing patterns and historical data, these systems can anticipate potential attack vectors and strengthen defenses before attacks occur.
Barclays has adopted a human-in-the-loop model for its AI-driven security systems, where AI predictions about potential threats are reviewed by security experts before major defensive actions are taken. This hybrid approach combines the speed and pattern recognition capabilities of AI with human judgment and contextual understanding.
Advanced financial institutions are now deploying entire ecosystems of specialized AI agents that work together to protect their systems. One AI agent might focus on threat detection, another on incident response, while a third engages in predictive analysis of potential future threats.
This collaborative approach mirrors how human security teams operate but at a scale and speed that would be impossible for human analysts alone. For instance, a leading financial institution implemented a multi-agent system with specialized components:
The result was a significant reduction in fraud losses and enhanced protection for millions of daily transactions.
While agentic AI offers powerful new defensive capabilities, it also introduces new challenges and potential vulnerabilities that financial institutions must address.
A phenomenon called “shadow AI”—the unsanctioned use of AI tools by employees within organizations—is emerging as a significant security concern. Much like shadow IT, this refers to employees using public AI models for data analysis or AI-powered coding assistants without proper vetting.
Financial institutions must be particularly vigilant about this risk, as employees might inadvertently input sensitive financial data into public AI models, potentially exposing confidential information. According to IBM addressing these risks requires “a mix of clear governance policies, comprehensive workforce training, and diligent detection and response.”
The interconnected nature of agentic AI systems introduces new vulnerabilities that cybercriminals are already attempting to exploit. As Nicole Carignan, VP of strategic cyber AI at Darktrace, points out, “multi-agent AI systems, while offering unparalleled efficiency for complex tasks, will introduce vulnerabilities such as data breaches, prompt injections, and data privacy risks.”
Financial institutions must recognize that their AI systems themselves can become targets of attacks, requiring new approaches to securing these critical components of their cybersecurity infrastructure.
As AI agents become more autonomous in their decision-making, questions about accountability and control become increasingly important. The “black box” nature of some AI systems makes it difficult to explain their decisions to regulators, customers, or internal auditors.
Paul Davis, CEO of Bank Slate, emphasizes that “human oversight is still needed to oversee inputs and review the decisioning process. You have to monitor for AI’s blind spots in areas such as risk assessment and crisis management.”
Despite these challenges, financial institutions can take specific steps to harness the power of agentic AI while building robust cyber resilience.
Financial institutions leading in this space have established comprehensive governance frameworks for their AI systems. JPMorgan Chase and HSBC have appointed Chief AI Risk Officers to oversee responsible AI usage, while Citigroup’s AI governance board actively reviews AI-driven decisions.
These governance structures ensure that while AI systems can operate autonomously, proper oversight mechanisms, accountability frameworks, and transparency requirements are in place. This approach aligns with the EU AI Act, which categorizes AI systems into different risk levels and establishes governance requirements accordingly.
The most effective implementations of agentic AI in financial cybersecurity maintain a balance between automation and human oversight. Barclays’ approach of keeping humans involved in reviewing AI-generated security recommendations before major actions are taken represents a thoughtful middle ground.
The most resilient cybersecurity systems combine the strengths of both AI and human intelligence in a continuous learning loop. AI systems detect patterns and anomalies at scale, while human experts provide context, judgment, and strategic direction.
This hybrid approach allows financial institutions to respond to emerging threats more effectively than either AI or human teams could accomplish alone. As threats evolve, both the AI systems and human teams learn and adapt together, creating a continuously improving security posture.
Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond, several trends will shape how agentic AI continues to transform cybersecurity in financial services.
We’re seeing a clear trend away from simple chatbot interfaces towards more sophisticated, autonomous AI agents in security operations. These agents will be capable of not just detecting threats but also responding to them in real-time, often without human intervention.
This shift will raise important questions about accountability and control that financial institutions must address proactively. As these AI agents become more autonomous, ensuring their decision-making processes are transparent, auditable, and aligned with organizational policies will be essential.
By 2027, at least 80% of developers in financial organizations will be using AI-powered coding tools in some capacity. While these tools can significantly speed up development and help identify bugs, they also introduce new security considerations.
Software developers will need to be vigilant about potential biases or errors introduced by AI coding assistants, as well as the possibility of cyber attacks targeting these AI systems themselves. Implementing a “trust and verify” approach to AI-generated code will be critical for maintaining security.
As agentic AI becomes more prevalent in financial cybersecurity, regulatory frameworks will continue to evolve. The EU AI Act represents just the beginning of what will likely be a comprehensive regulatory approach to AI in financial services.
Financial institutions should prepare for increased scrutiny of their AI systems, particularly those used for cybersecurity. Demonstrating responsible AI usage, maintaining appropriate human oversight, and ensuring transparency in AI decision-making will be key to regulatory compliance.
Agentic AI represents both the next frontier in cybersecurity defense and a new domain of potential vulnerability for financial institutions. Its ability to autonomously detect threats, make decisions, and take protective actions offers unprecedented capabilities for defending against increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks.
However, realizing these benefits requires thoughtful implementation, robust governance, and a balanced approach that combines the strengths of AI and human expertise. Financial institutions that get this balance right will not only enhance their security posture but also build greater trust with customers and regulators.
As we prepare for the Point Zero Forum rum 2025, cybersecurity and the role of agentic AI will undoubtedly be central to our discussions about the future of financial services. The forum’s focus on establishing resilient policies, infrastructure, and innovation aligns perfectly with the cybersecurity challenges and opportunities presented by agentic AI.
Remember that building cyber resilience is not a destination but a journey—one that requires continuous adaptation, learning, and collaboration across the financial ecosystem. As I often say, “We are at the beginning of a marathon. It’s not a sprint.” The most successful institutions will be those that approach agentic AI in cybersecurity with both enthusiasm for its potential and thoughtfulness about its implementation.
I look forward to continuing this conversation at the Point Zero Forum in Zurich and exploring how we can collectively harness the power of agentic AI to build a more secure and resilient financial system.
Oliver Bussmann is a global technology thought leader and ambassador to the Point Zero Forum. With extensive experience as a former Group CIO at UBS and SAP, he advises financial institutions on digital transformation strategies and emerging technologies.
Please note that this newsletter reflects Bussmann Advisory’s and Oliver Bussmann’s personal views and not those of any organization we are involved with. This newsletter is for educational purposes only and none of its content should be construed as investment or financial advice of any kind. More information on www.bussmannadvisory.com.
Image Credits: OpenAI
As we approach the Point Zero Forum 2025 in Zurich, I find myself reflecting on how agentic AI is fundamentally reshaping the financial services landscape. This isn’t just another incremental technological advancement – it represents a paradigm shift that’s transforming how financial institutions operate, serve customers, and manage risk.
The financial sector has entered a new phase in its AI journey: from passive assistance to active agency. While traditional AI systems have operated within predefined constraints—retrieving data, summarizing reports, streamlining workflows—agentic AI moves beyond these functions to plan, execute, and adapt complex tasks with minimal human intervention.
What distinguishes agentic AI is its powerful combination of autonomy, adaptability, and coordination capabilities. These systems can make independent decisions, learn from feedback loops, and interact with other AI agents to execute comprehensive workflows. The global market for agentic AI in financial services is projected to grow at an impressive rate of over 40% annually, potentially reaching $80 billion by 2034.
According to Citi’s latest research, references to agentic AI by BigTech in corporate documents and press articles increased 17x in 2024 and are expected to go parabolic in 2025. This signals a significant shift in the industry’s focus and investment priorities.
As financial institutions face increasing pressure to optimize operations, reduce costs, and deliver personalized services at scale, agentic AI offers a powerful solution for automating processes while maintaining accuracy and compliance.
The practical applications of agentic AI across financial services are diverse and already delivering tangible results:
Investment firms like JPMorgan Chase are deploying AI agents to autonomously monitor markets, detect non-obvious correlations, and optimize portfolio allocations. These systems provide adaptive financial advice, real-time savings goal optimization, and personalized investment portfolios.
HSBC’s “Amy” has moved beyond simple customer service to provide more nuanced financial assistance.
For retail customers, virtual financial assistants and tax planning agents are becoming increasingly sophisticated, with Capital One ranking second in “AI maturity” according to Evident AI’s 2024 index, demonstrating how traditional banks are embracing this technology.
In corporate banking, agentic AI enables custom lending offers, optimized loan structures, and dynamic pricing models. Financial planning agents and adaptive tax planning systems help institutional clients navigate complex financial landscapes.
Royal Bank of Canada, is leveraging agentic AI to provide custom research insights and real-time market alerts to institutional investors, giving them a competitive edge in fast-moving markets.
Perhaps most critically, agentic AI is transforming risk management and compliance. Self-learning systems continuously refine fraud detection strategies, identifying new fraud techniques as they emerge. These systems can autonomously assess loans, using local data to evaluate risk without direct human involvement.
Citigroup has established an AI governance board that actively reviews AI-driven decisions for fairness and bias mitigation, while Barclays has adopted a human-in-the-loop model for AI-driven loan approvals to maintain compliance with regulatory standards.
In compliance, agentic AI refines risk assessments in real-time, dynamically responding to emerging threats and anomalies. This capability is particularly valuable in an era of rapidly evolving regulatory requirements and sophisticated financial crimes.
Behind the scenes, agentic AI systems automate routine tasks with context-aware workflows, streamline complex operations, and handle invoice processing and reconciliations. The technology leverages advanced language models to analyze situations, determine appropriate actions, learn from outcomes, execute complex processes, and adapt strategies based on changing conditions in real-time.
Fintech companies like Covecta have demonstrated how agentic AI can handle lending and credit underwriting autonomously, reducing processing times by 80%. Meanwhile, digital-first banks like Revolut and Nubank are experimenting with fully AI-driven operational models, setting the stage for a new banking framework.
The financial services industry is embracing agentic AI at an unprecedented rate. According to a Bank of England survey in 2024, 75% of financial firms reported already using AI, with an additional 10% planning to adopt it within the next three years.
A recent SS&C Blue Prism survey revealed even more ambitious adoption plans, with 87% of organizations actively deploying new AI technologies, 94% considering AI core to their entire business operations, and 76% planning to implement agentic AI systems within 12 months.
However, this rapid adoption isn’t without challenges. The same survey found that 74% of respondents face difficulties in adopting the latest AI technology, with around one-third citing security and compliance concerns, 36% concerned about employee skills, 34% worried about employee fear of losing jobs, and 33% facing technology integration requirements.
Moreover, some reports suggest that as high as 85% of AI initiatives fail, underscoring the gap between AI’s promise and its practical application in enterprise environments.
As agentic AI adoption accelerates, regulatory frameworks are evolving to address the unique challenges these systems present. The EU AI Act represents a significant step in this direction, categorizing AI systems into different risk levels and establishing governance requirements.
Agentic AI’s autonomy and potential to operate with minimal human intervention raise unique regulatory challenges. The EU approach focuses on ensuring that while these systems can operate autonomously, proper oversight mechanisms, accountability frameworks, and transparency requirements are in place.
Financial institutions are responding by establishing robust AI governance structures. JPMorgan Chase and HSBC have appointed Chief AI Risk Officers to oversee responsible AI usage, while Citigroup’s AI governance board actively reviews AI-driven decisions for fairness and bias mitigation.
The upcoming Point Zero Forum in Zurich (May 5-7, 2025) will serve as a critical platform for discussing these developments and their implications. As an ambassador to this prestigious event, I’m particularly excited about the dialogue that will unfold around agentic AI and other transformative technologies.
The Forum will bring together over 2,000 of the world’s leading policymakers, central bankers, regulators, and industry experts to tackle pressing challenges in the financial ecosystem. One of the key questions guiding the 2025 dialogue will be: “Will Agentic AI-driven intelligent systems redefine industrial productivity and unlock new frontiers of innovation?”
The Forum will address two primary themes:
While the potential of agentic AI is immense, significant challenges remain. Financial institutions must navigate concerns around trust, data privacy, cybersecurity, and regulatory compliance. The technology raises questions about job displacement and algorithmic bias that must be addressed thoughtfully.
From my perspective, having worked at the intersection of technology and finance for decades, I see three critical success factors for organizations looking to harness agentic AI:
We stand at the threshold of a new era in financial services, one in which agentic AI will fundamentally reshape how institutions operate, serve customers, and manage risk. The technology’s ability to autonomously make decisions, learn from experiences, and collaborate across systems represents a quantum leap from traditional automation.
Leading financial institutions are already demonstrating the transformative potential of agentic AI, from JPMorgan Chase’s market monitoring systems to Citigroup’s governance frameworks. The rapid adoption rates—with 76% of financial organizations planning to implement agentic AI within a year—underscore the industry’s recognition of this technology’s strategic importance.
As we prepare for the 2025 Point Zero Forum, I encourage financial leaders to consider how this technology can be harnessed responsibly to drive innovation, efficiency, and inclusion. The forum’s focus on AI-driven intelligent systems and their potential to redefine productivity aligns perfectly with the agentic AI revolution unfolding in financial services.
Remember, as I often say, “We are at the beginning of a marathon. It’s not a sprint.” The journey toward fully realizing the potential of agentic AI will require sustained commitment, thoughtful leadership, and collaborative approaches across the industry.
I look forward to continuing this conversation at the Point Zero Forum in Zurich and engaging with many of you on this fascinating topic.
Oliver Bussmann is a global technology thought leader and ambassador to the Point Zero Forum. With extensive experience as a former Group CIO at UBS and SAP, he advises financial institutions on digital transformation strategies and emerging technologies.
Image Credit: Wanan Wanan | shutterstock.com
Please note that this newsletter reflects Bussmann Advisory’s and Oliver Bussmann’s personal views and not those of any organization we are involved with. This newsletter is for educational purposes only and none of its content should be construed as investment or financial advice of any kind. More information on www.bussmannadvisory.com.
This blog post first appeared in Forbes.
A wave of skepticism hardly hit the crypto assets market in 2018, especially observable by a massive drop in ICO volumes. This sharp decline was mainly due to offerings of poor quality and a lack of regulatory oversight. 2019 will be a transition year on the way to a regulated market of tokenized assets. Security tokens are at the core of the rebound and three major disruptions are accelerating the redefinition of financial markets:
The digitization of existing assets
One of the main reasons which caused investors to lose interests in ICOs and cryptocurrencies was the lack of oversight on that new fund-raising method and the poor quality of the assets they received in return of their investments. To overcome that deeply-rooted problem, the trend is to turn towards known and well-recognized asset classes like tokenization of securities and add the efficiency and safety potential of decentralized ledger technologies.
An evolving infrastructure for digital assets
Supporting the digitalization of existing assets, a strong and reliable infrastructure is needed to provide a seamless experience for the end-user, namely individual and institutional investors wanting to diversify their asset allocation. Since the beginning of 2019, an upsurge of established global financial exchanges announced a handful of projects aiming at developing the trading of digital assets in a regulated environment. With different levels of progress, all major players have at least announced collaborations with technical experts and companies to develop deeper knowledge in this ground-breaking technology advancement.
A more transparent regulatory framework
There is a need for regulatory approval in all jurisdictions and broader market acceptance from all existing players in the industry. From the regulatory perspective, a major shift towards digital assets can be observed at the moment. But at its current state, it won’t happen before 2020. The Swiss legislator, considered to be one of the first to rule on that matter, will soon vote on such legislation. However, even if successful, the ruling will take effect on January 1st, 2020.
Today’s insufficient market infrastructure level
Currently, the market infrastructure still needs to overcome psychological and technological hurdles to trigger interest from institutional investors. Three main reasons explain the lack of trust in the existing market infrastructure: insufficient market readiness, lack of education of market players and investor related factors. Insufficient market infrastructure and market readiness can be defined by the limited integration between traditional money and digital assets, a low level of liquidity and transparency of current digital assets and no enterprise-grade custody solution available, making the investor itself bear the responsibility of holding the asset, or having to rely on relatively inexperienced custodians with low volume capabilities. The lack of education of market players is characterized by the recent development of decentralized ledgers and not enough time for established market players to adopt that technology to-date. Furthermore, there is no standard for security tokens. Lastly, investor related factors are comprised partly from a disjointed and inconsistent investor experience with crypto asset-based exchanges with renowned names having experienced systematic technical problems or having been hacked. Also, the lack of institutional grade investment products hindered the attractiveness of digital assets to meet the needs of sophisticated investment strategies.
What assets to be tokenized, only cash, shares and real estate?
In theory, all existing asset classes can be put into digital certificates “tokens”. From listed and unlisted equity, bonds, real estate, luxury goods and investment funds, every asset class already has been tokenized, but not in all cases was it proven to be an improvement of existing processes or adding any kind of value. One central criterion is that it’s only useful to tokenize assets, which can be after only be transferred via blockchain. With the current state of legislation, it does not bring value to tokenize tangible assets such as real estate and luxury goods since both asset classes can still be sold outside of the blockchain or any other exchange. However, the digitalization of intangible asset classes such as debt, equity and derivatives can already benefit from smart contract characteristics in managing the entire asset lifecycle such as issuance, electronic voting rights, dividend payments and automated shareholder registers.
Following are the Finoa research results on potential developments of digital asset classes for the upcoming 8 years:
Source: https://finoa.io/#research
A clear trend can be observed that intangibles will cover most of the projected market volume with more than 95% of the total if we include “Other financial Assets” as intangibles.
Traditional & new players competing for the market share
Competition between the existing exchanges and newcomers will be key to determine the future of the digital assets’ providers. On one side, existing market leaders have the most potential to grasp the largest market share. With an existing base of trusted customers including the largest institutional firms, an established brand image and a proven ability to scale, only a technological change is required to address the new market of digital assets. Since they are and will remain regulatory compliant, exchanges will set the standards for security tokens to be listed, as they already do, increasing investors’ confidence and broad market acceptance. On the other side, new market players are entering the space with disrupting technologies and more flexibility to adapt quickly to changing market conditions. However, even with a more efficient technology, new actors are facing structural problems to set foot in the industry. First, regulatory conditions like exchange and broker-dealer licenses are needed to operate in most countries. In addition, distribution and connections to financial institutions are still lacking to gain broader market presence, acceptance and confidence.
The first half of 2019 has and will continue to witness traditional market players entering the digital assets space at a fast pace. Singapore’s SGX partnered with Nasdaq to develop a blockchain settlement system. In Europe, Deutsche Boerse and SIX also partnered with technology companies to integrate digital assets in their offering starting this year already.
Newly established companies are starting to get traction in the security tokens space with names like Coinbase Prime to create an institutional trading platform or t-Zero which offers a regulated platform for security token offerings. Also, daura and Sygnum joined forces with Deutsche Boerse and Swisscom to build a tokenized ecosystem with a focus on issuance of security tokens.
Dependent on regulatory approval
To conclude, digital assets show a great potential for the future of the financial service industry. To support its successful development, customers and institutional players will soon decide on whom to partner with for new security tokens issuance. Furthermore, the regulatory approval will be the most time costly condition to get the ecosystem up and running. 2020 will be a transition year for the development of the market infrastructure for security tokens. Momentum will build up in 2021 and 2022 before going to a generalized market acceptance and towards a more tokenized economy.
Oliver Bussmann is Founder and CEO of Bussmann Advisory; ex-chief information officer at UBS and SAP.
This blog post first appeared in Forbes.
With 2019 right around the corner, the time has come to reflect on the events of 2018, but more importantly, to consider what the next year holds. With a groaning bear market dampening the crypto hype, it is easy to forget that blockchain technology continues to hold much promise.
While some may lament the entry of regulators in 2018, clamping down on ICO projects, and putting in place strict frameworks for compliance, these are signs of a market maturing. Speculators aside, industry experts knew the Wild West of Crypto was only a transitionary phase, and as it draws towards its close, the time has come to focus on holistic, sustainable growth with real, tangible benefits.
As 2018 marched along and the utility token market saw a slowdown, industry has been rife with talk of the arrival of security tokens. This is for good reason.
The market has long-waited for the grand entrance of institutional investors – but they have not yet significantly entered the market. This has partially been attributed to the core offerings of ICOs. Utility tokens offering usability are simply not substantial enough to investors, who are used to buying stakes in companies.
Enter security tokens. The familiarity of the IPO world coupled with the benefits of blockchain is an offering that promises to redefine the IPO business. The idea of programmable equity brings possibilities of immense liquidity and efficiency at lower costs. Coupled with access to global pools of capital, 24/7, opportunities abound.
However, it is still a promise, as the market infrastructure for listing and trading security and asset tokens is still in the works. But the change is coming, with 2018 seeing major crypto exchanges applying for brokerage licenses in preparation. With the market still nascent – we expect to see the opening of exchanges with security token trading functionalities in 2019. However, it is likely in the early stages that liquidity will be limited.
The success of security tokens is contingent on digital asset exchanges being up and running. Alongside crypto exchanges like Coinbase, Binance and Lykke seeking regulatory clearance for security tokens, we also see traditional players like Nasdaq, London Stock Exchange and the Swiss Stock Exchange developing digital asset platforms, signs indicating that market infrastructure will be in place by the second half of 2019. As processes stabilize and regulatory concerns are addressed, we will see the launch of several STO projects towards the end of 2019, with major activity and more liquidity in early 2020.
With several indicators pointing towards the possibility of a global slowdown especially in the equity and bond markets in the coming year, investors are on the lookout for alternative asset classes. With the developing market for security tokens, there are immense possibilities in the tokenization of well-performing assets that previously lacked liquidity. Consider healthy Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Real Estate Assets, that tend to have robust returns, but lack wide market access.
While they may not be able to afford public market listing, opening up to global markets of investors could provide an infusion of capital that could help scale their businesses. With over 90% of companies in operation globally listed as SMEs, the potential for growth is significant.
Of all the methods to harness the power of blockchain, one that has piqued interest across borders and industries is the possibility to develop B2B2C ecosystems. A McKinsey study from 2017 reported the importance of ecosystems in the future, suggesting that new ecosystems would emerge in place of many traditional industries with over $50 trillion in revenue by 2025. Not unlike e-commerce in the nineties, the vast potential for growth and disruption with decentralized P2P ecosystems is yet to be discovered.
In enabling efficient peer-to-peer transactions through shared APIs, the potential of a smart contract-powered decentralized ecosystem is vast. This also involves the construction of new business models, in a frame of cooperative competition, with competitors coming together to build up ecosystems that connect various players through the lifecycle of any product and the end-to-end delivery of services.
While this concept has already seen some implementation in 2018, the experiments have brought learnings rather than success. The experiments have helped identify complications in implementation, such as the need for a business governance model that allows all ecosystem players to have a voice without any single leader.
The learnings from unproductive experiments open up the gates for more progress in 2019, with innovative new decentralized ecosystems being developed by the end of the year.
It is more and more widely accepted that blockchain is here to stay. Even as the technology turns toward the trough of disillusionment on Gartner’s hype cycle, comes the investment in technology development and greater regulatory clarity.
At the end of 2018, blockchain remains the darling of the tech-savvy, but is still perceived as a vague, not-quite-understood, new entrant to the tech conservative. The true winners of 2019 will be companies that are able to bridge the crypto and fiat worlds, enabling digital links between the two. This linkage is a necessity across industries, from storage, trading, asset management of digital assets to real world applications of technology for the bystander, such as voting and land-registry.
The end of 2018 also marks the end of the crypto-hype, and we welcome the next phase of development of digital assets as we move up the slope of enlightenment and toward the plateau of productivity.
Image source
This blog post first appeared in Forbes.
As I have written about before, we are in the middle of a sea change in terms of how commercial markets are organized.
Much of this change is being driven by blockchain technology, which can be used to replace the vertical, siloed industry structures we know today – structures that are fragmented and full of friction – with radically decentralized, open and fluid ecosystems.
Having been in this space for quite a while now, and having worked with a large number of companies and projects, I am more convinced than ever that this vision of new ecosystems in the enterprise space is a fantastic growth opportunity. I also find that the true dimensions of what is going on here are becoming clearer.
Up to now the blockchain discussion in the enterprise space has generally been about efficiency gains – about bringing down the costs of existing processes. What I see more and more is that the horizontal, fully integrated value chains of the future can be a tremendous engine for growth as well. And this is where it gets interesting.
Let’s have a look at how this looks in practice.
We are for example advising am European bank that is working on a horizontal, blockchain-based real estate ecosystem. In this space, the bank sees itself as one part of a fully integrated value chain in which all the products and services around selling, buying, moving in or out of a home are digitally integrated into a single open platform. This can include everything from the mortgage application and acceptance to title registry to securing building and renovation permits to tax assessment and payment to arranging for the moving company to hooking up the telephone and internet and engaging the landscaper.
Such a platform, if it could be built, would of course be great news for the home buyers and sellers. Instead of dealing with different vendors who do not know anything about what the others are doing, with blockchain and smart contracts, everything can be digitally contracted for and coordinated in a single space.
What I think enterprises need to keep in mind, however, is that the new market platforms and business models that will come out of this kind of integration will be very interesting for them too.
Here’s why.
In any marketplace, all participants have to be connected. Today this is achieved through a hub and spoke model. Industries and businesses exist in their own silos, and then rely on some sort of market platform to come together and do business.
Google and Amazon are obvious examples of such platforms whose business model is to integrate market participants and facilitate transactions. That has proven very useful, but having a proprietary market platform also adds cost and friction. More importantly, these platforms also disintermediate the customer interface, transferring the customer relationship from the business providing the product or service to the owner of the platform.
With blockchain we can build new kinds of market platforms that are collectively owned by the participants.
This technology by its nature makes it easy for large, disparate groups of market participants to communicate, collaborate and – most importantly – safely transact with each other. In a blockchain ecosystem, all participants can also observe the entire state of the market at any time, as opposed to in a proprietary platform, where only the platform owner has the full overview.
By adding smart contracts to the mix, we can build a cross-enterprise workflow engine, moving business logic out of the enterprise and into the collective ecosystem layer. This would allow market participants to easily codify market rules as well as individual partner agreements in a way that is transparent, trustworthy and easily enforceable.
Such platforms, which exhibit a high degree of automation, are highly efficient. Without intermediaries, they are also inexpensive to use. By getting rid of the need to build and maintain costly data and transaction silos, not to mention the APIs and reconciliation mechanisms required to connect these silos together, such platforms can be built more quickly and far less expensively than traditional ones. That can represent significant cost savings within the enterprise. Perhaps more importantly, once built such platforms can facilitate cross-selling, reduce acquisition costs and potentially radically increase the customer base.
As has been pointed out, moving to blockchain-based horizontal ecosystems can also have advantages within the enterprise by catalyzing the breaking down of value chains into their component parts. In place of the monolithic legacy systems businesses are used to, enterprises can then move to a microservices architecture built on the foundation of blockchain and smart contracts. That will let them develop lightweight, dynamic, easily scalable and more robust applications that they can plug into the ecosystem, and withdraw, as needed.
Of course, it won’t be all smooth sailing. Challenges to overcome include the complexities in the initial setup, in particular the operating model discussions (designing the ecosystem, reaching consensus on the desired rules, working out partner agreements).
Once the ecosystem is running, there will certainly be governance issues to deal with as well. Perhaps as challenging will be the mindset change. While enterprises have long been used to cooperating with competitors in strategic partnerships, this brings such “coopetition” to a whole new level. People will need to get used to it.
I believe the potential rewards will be well worth any such growing pains.
This blog post first appeared in Financial News.
There should be no doubt by now that initial coin offerings – token sale fundraisings by startups – have established themselves as new and very compelling forms of capital raising.
Startups, primarily in the blockchain world, raised $4.6bn in various forms of token launches in 2017, a quantum leap from the $0.2 billion raised the year before. While this may not seem like much compared to the $188.8bn raised in traditional IPOs in 2017, five of the largest ICOs in history took place in October and November so there is clearly strong momentum.
This has begun to disrupt above all the traditional venture capital model by providing a compelling alternative fundraising mechanism for startups. An ICO lets a startup take its idea directly to investors for near-instant validation through the crowd, and relieves founders of the often significant time commitment needed to pursue fundraising through traditional means. This in turn gives them more time for their real job: innovation. With a successful ICO, startups can also potentially meet all their capital needs in a single raise rather than needing to constantly raise fresh venture funding.
So it is no surprise people are beginning to ask if ICOs will make venture capital obsolete. I think the new model will almost certainly disrupt the way VC firms do business. But it won‘t mean the end for them.
VC firms still offer founders a lot. Their participation in a project is a strong validation of the idea and they can offer valuable advice in terms of refining concepts and developing business plans. While a single, all-encompassing funding round through an ICO can be tempting, windfalls can lead to excesses. Venture capitalists, which traditionally provide funding in series of smaller rounds, can help ensure founders remain prudent spenders and push them to meet deadlines and achieve milestones.
There are also parts of the ICO market that need to mature before it can attempt to replace venture capital.
The biggest area that requires attention remains regulatory uncertainty. While regulators around the world have generally been attentive to the rise of ICOs, and have worked hard to understand them, there are still a number of thorny legal and regulatory issues to be addressed. There is disparity between jurisdictions and most countries have yet to address cryptocurrency tax questions in a meaningful way.
ICOs also continue to face a serious threat that traditional forms of fundraising do not: that of hacking. We have seen money stolen from token launches through fraud, for example through phishing schemes or fake websites, as well as security flaws in cryptocurrency wallets. If the ICO community cannot address such cyber security issues, it will have a hard time catching on with mainstream investors.
None of which is to say ICOs will be unable to deal with these issues. Various initiatives are underway to improve regulation, security and investor protection.
These include efforts by the industry to regulate itself, for example through codes of conduct like the one we recently developed at the Crypto Valley Association. Increased focus on cyber security is likely to see more structures designed to protect investors, such as lock-up periods forcing investors to more carefully evaluate projects and discouraging ‘pump-and-dump’ schemes, and pre-registration requirements.
In the future we are likely to see more structured funding rounds as well, with caps, increased transparency regarding the need for funds, and innovative ways to govern the use of funds – from voting by investors to smart contracts to ensure that pre-agreed capital expenditure plans are adhered to.
But for the time being, although ICOs are clearly a disruptive development in the world of startup funding, they do not stand to replace traditional venture funding – certainly not yet.
And even as the ICO industry matures there is every reason to think venture capital will remain an important part of the startup process. Venture capitalists could work alongside ICOs by providing funding and advice to refine an idea and develop a business plan before attempting a public funding round.
In fact, combining the benefits of both VC funding and ICOs may turn out to be the best choice for venture capitalists, founders and the broader investor community alike.
For startups, it means access to important expertise at perhaps the most critical moment for the whole venture: its inception. And for VC firms it means still having the chance of getting in early on projects, either with an equity share, early participation in the eventual ICO, or both.
Oliver Bussmann is founder and managing partner of Bussmann Advisory; ex-chief information officer at UBS and SAP; and President of Crypto Valley Association, a Swiss blockchain network.
This blog post first appeared in Coindesk.
2017 was a year of tremendous growth for blockchain, though not in the expected ways.
At the beginning of this year, I and others predicted that 2017 would be the year that blockchain moved from proof-of-concepts into production. We did see some notable successes in this regard.
Ripple became a fully operational platform with over 100 members and payment volumes in the billions, and industries began to form blockchain business networks, for example, the Digital Trade Chain consortium (DTC) in trade finance.
But overall, I expected to see more “go lives” than we did. On the other hand, I don’t think anyone expected the unprecedented growth in the market capitalization of cryptocurrencies or the related ICO boom.
So, what will the new year bring? Despite the obvious perils in making predictions, I feel confident that, among other things, we will see the following:
Now, let’s unpack the details.
Although it was quieter than expected this year, I believe we will continue to see blockchain solutions come into production as enterprises address the “low-hanging fruit” by digitizing businesses and use cases where blockchain can make the most impact.
In fintech, the two most promising use cases remain payments (where there are $50–60 billion of potential savings to be had) and trade finance (which stands to save some $15 billion).
As we saw payments do in 2017, I expect we will see trade finance begin to go live on blockchain in 2018. In payments, momentum will pick up and volumes will increase as larger banks, including correspondent banks, get into the act. These players will be tempted by the advantages blockchain brings in terms of real-time processing, lower risk profiles, lower costs and transparency.
Blockchain can serve as a stick as well as a carrot, simply by proving that there are better alternatives to the status quo in many industries. We can imagine, as an example, that blockchain has had a hand to play in the European Banking Authority’s EU-wide transparency exercises.
We were all somewhat surprised – if pleasantly so – by how well cryptocurrencies did in 2017 as a speculative asset. Indeed, growth was spectacular, with the asset class rising from $14 billion in December 2016 to over $450 billion in December 2017 in terms of market capitalization.
I think this growth will continue to be fueled by traditional asset management approaches, including bitcoin futures, crypto hedge funds and the like, all of which will increase the demand for cryptocurrencies and tokens.
As blockchain continues to change market structures, companies will increasingly focus on changing business models.
In a world where middlemen are becoming obsolete, companies will have to learn to stop thinking in silos and be more open to becoming partners in ecosystems or on broader platforms. That, in turn, means deciding what kinds of business models they want – whether it’s platform plays, product plays, omni-channel strategies, and so on.
These discussions will become multi-dimensional, encompassing both existing services and, increasingly, the new kinds of services that blockchain enables – particularly as blockchain combines with IoT and AI to create new kinds of marketplaces where industry silos come down in favor of broad, horizontal structures.
One of the most satisfying parts of 2017 for me was being able to see this start to happen close-hand among some of the companies I have the privilege to work with. (See disclosures below.)
Deon Digital has partnered with Mercedes Benz to develop a new operating system that will help break down silos in the mobility space. Skycell is a good example of IoT and blockchain opening up the pharmaceutical supply chain to embrace payments, invoicing and insurance. TEND is rethinking investment management by creating a Sharing Economy 2.0 for high-value assets.
One space I think we should keep a particular eye on in 2018 is the fund industry, where firms like Melonport are using blockchain to rethink asset management. I think we will see more of this, and that the fund industry will start to be significantly disrupted next year.
This will start with the management of crypto assets, but over time we will see traditional assets increasingly being tokenized, migrated onto blockchains and managed on-chain.
With startups raising over $3.5 billion in ICOs, 2017 was clearly the year of the token launch.
To me, though, the ICO boom is significant, not necessarily because of the amounts raised, but because we are seeing the beginnings of the democratization of venture capital. And though the concept had a great 2017, change will come to the world of ICOs in 2018 as more traditional players get involved.
Over the next 12-18 months, I expect people with experience and expertise in the IPO world will embrace tokenization as a technical platform, and the whole business will be professionalized, with book building, pricing, startup evaluation and so on happening more along traditional lines.
As we’ve already begun to see, it will be harder to get funding simply on the back of a white paper. Investors will demand sound business plans and high levels of transparency, with all that entails.
One of the key challenges of existing blockchain technology is scale and performance. I predict that next year we will see alternatives to current blockchain technologies that will be more scalable, faster and minimize energy consumption.
IOTA, which has gained a lot of traction lately, is, I think, a project to watch in this regard.
I also believe people will increasingly find that local blockchain ecosystems, where critical services are co-located in one geographical area, are critical success factors for blockchain projects.
This is certainly what we see in the “Crypto Valley” in Switzerland. As the President of the Crypto Valley Association, I hope readers will forgive me for predicting – or at the least, pitching for – the continued success of Switzerland as a blockchain ecosystem.
Crypto Valley has a high concentration of all the services blockchain projects will need to raise money and set up shop, including legal, advisory, tax, accounting, smart contract platforms, KYC/AML utilities and marketing expertise.
This coupled with Switzerland’s other advantages, from its state-of-the-art infrastructure to its highly skilled workforce, will, in my opinion, mean it should remain a great draw for blockchain companies – in the new year and hopefully for many years to come.
Disclosure: Oliver Bussmann is a strategic advisor to IOTA, Deon Digital and Tend, mentioned in this article.