A new survey suggests that many finance professionals see a bright future for blockchain technology – just not one involving bitcoin.

Greenwich Associates, a market intelligence firm, recently released its “Distributed Ledgers in Capital Markets: Answering the Big Questions” survey, which follows previous publications that focus on quantifying Wall Street’s growing relationship with bitcoin and blockchain technology.

When asked whether Wall Street legal and compliance professionals will trust asset transfers that occur via a blockchain. Thirty-two percent indicated that they believe this trust will definitely take shape, whereas 38% of the 55 respondents queried said they believe this trust will come about “eventually”.

Thirteen percent said that “more regulation is needed” before such an outcome is possible, while 11% said Wall Street will never trust this application of the technology.

Seven percent remained undecided, according to report, which went on to state:

“For the blockchain or another distributed ledger to provide this clarity to the market, market participants and the legal system would all have to recognize the ledger as the golden copy of who owns what. This is technically possible, but not a reality just yet.”

Blockchain without bitcoin

On the question of whether “the blockchain can thrive without bitcoin”, 73% of the 55 respondents asked this question said they believe it can.

Yet some respondents indicated otherwise, according to the report:

“Nearly three-quarters of participants in the [study] believe the blockchain can be put to good use without bitcoin. This result doesn’t scream controversial. But while capital markets professionals (who make up most of our sample) are convinced, those with backgrounds in bitcoin and the blockchain are not.”

Other findings focused on whether alternative technologies, rather than the bitcoin blockchain, can be effectively deployed to create a distributed ledger.

Thirty-three percent of the 54 respondents said that they believe other, unspecified technologies can be used to make “faster and more robust” ledgers, whereas 28% said they do not.

Thirty-nine percent said that they were undecided on the matter.

The survey was conducted in May and June of this year, drawing feedback from 102 finance professionals. In July, an additional 55 interviews were conducted as part of the study.

Survey image via Shutterstock