Blockchain technology has the potential to remove cost, shorten settlement cycles, remove central points of failure, automate capital markets processes, and optimize the flow of capital. However, a central tenet of capital markets transactions is confidentiality, while a central tenet of Blockchain 1.0 is transparency.

Therefore, if blockchain technology is to deliver its potential, then a key area that needs addressing is how to maintain confidentiality via decentralized consensus without compromising efficiency, integrity, governance, cost, and throughput.

This report takes a more detailed look at the cryptographic mechanisms that drive security within Blockchain 1.0 technology, highlights the deficiencies from a capital markets perspective, and explores some of the cutting-edge cryptographic techniques which are likely to catalyze adoption of distributed ledger technology within the capital markets.