As I discussed in my prior remarks on crypto-assets, I think of the crypto ecosystem as consisting of several parts, including the database management protocol used to record trades, commonly referred to as blockchain.
A blockchain is ultimately a type of distributed database that can be used to record data, including asset ownership and transactions in the asset (i.e., changes in asset ownership).5 To date, blockchain has primarily served as the ledger of record for cryptoassets, but it may be suitable to play a similar role for traditional assets, such as securities and derivatives.