This demonstrated to us that DLT has potential, but it has also become evident that there is a long road ahead before large-scale adoption can be considered.12  New technology is increasing the efficiency of key banking functions through enabling the creation of new financial services. In terms of lending and borrowing, for example, ‘crowd-funding’13 and online ‘peer-to-peer lending platforms’14 are buzzwords.
These applications are closely related to financial intermediation, a core and heavily regulated element of financial institutions. The fintech applications in this field are still a small fraction of overall credit, but are growing very rapidly in some jurisdictions. This requires ongoing monitoring by central banks.