ASX Ties with VMware for Its Blockchain-Based Settlement System

The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on Monday announced that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Digital Asset (DA) and VMware to boost the development of its blockchain-based equities clearing and settlement system.
The exchange is already working with DA since 2017 to replace its existing equities clearing and settlement system called and put in place a much efficient blockchain-based system. Though the new system was expected for a late 2020 launch, it has been .

Under the MoU, the two companies will provide support for the ASX’s distributed ledger and infrastructure in both Australia and New Zealand.
Commenting on the announcement, Peter Hiom, deputy chief executive at ASX, said: “This new partnership is a very positive development that will help us support a wider range of DLT solutions developed by the industry. It confirms our belief in the potential of DLT as we remain on track to deliver the CHESS replacement system in March-April 2021.”
Bringing the efficiency of decentralization to equities settlements
Earlier in May, the ASX of its upcoming blockchain-based clearing system for its customers which allowed them to experiment with the new system as well as design, build and test system changes.
“We continue to achieve our milestones to deliver a production-grade, scalable distributed ledger solution for CHESS. VMware is now part of the mission we share with ASX to deliver a DAML-based distributed infrastructure to realize the full potential of this technology,” Yuval Rooz, co-founder and CEO of Digital Asset, added.
The newly included VMware is an enterprise-focused cloud computing giant headquartered in California. It is also an existing supplier of virtualization and infrastructure solutions to ASX.
“Providing a state-of-the-art DLT-based system will create new business opportunities for the industry,” said David Tennenhouse, senior vice president and chief research officer at VMware. “We’re working closely with DA and ASX on a combined offering to provide the enterprise-grade foundation for ASX, and we look forward to expanding our relationship.”