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ARTICLE · 02 JANUARY 2017

Are Smart Contracts A Real Thing Yet?

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In August, we reported on the challenges and opportunities discussed at the roundtable summit on smart contract templates. The second summit on 16 November was again held simultaneously...

United KingdomFinance and Banking
Adrian Shedden
Adrian Shedden

An Update From The Second R3CEV Smart Contracts Template Summit.

In August, we reported on the challenges and opportunities discussed at the roundtable summit on smart contract templates. The second summit on 16 November was again held simultaneously in London and New York, and hosted by Barclays and blockchain technology company R3CEV LLC, which now leads a consortium of around 70 global financial services companies. There were many experienced attendees, including investment banks, ISDA, FIA, and UCL's computer science unit, amongst others.

Smart contracts promise much: they simplify and automate, increase standardisation, offer electronic execution, provide immediate integration of contracts into data pools, and self-execute. Easier said than done; how do you simplify complex multilateral agreements?

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