A recent research commissioned by SIX Securities Services, has found that more than three quarters of banks are experimenting with blockchain technologies (76%) but believe a real solution is many years away.

According to the study, banks are adopting different approaches to innovation: 32% have developed a proof of concept, while 1 in 5 (18%) are piloting a specific product or service. 14% of total respondents said they have set up a blockchain focused innovation lab, while 12% have partnered with a blockchain company.

In addition, respondents see the technology having the biggest impact on settlement (38%), followed by clearing (34%). However, just 20% agreed that the technology will make the clearing process completely redundant.

“Blockchain has the potential to make a number of business models and intermediaries obsolete, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It is however important to question the changes that this would bring to the ecosystem. Until the industry has clear indications on sustainable use cases – including costs and benefits – it will be difficult to convince top managers to bring their trusted systems into these new domains”, Thomas Zeeb, CEO of SIX Securities Services said.

According to the survey respondents, regulatory uncertainty and a lack of in-house expertise are the major barriers to blockchain adoption – 72% respondents highlighted regulation as one of the top three factors holding blockchain back from being adopted in clearing and settlement today. The research thus estimates an average of six years before the technology is widely implemented.

SIX Securities Services is the post-trade infrastructure operator for the Swiss financial sector. Last month, it partnered with blockchain startup Digital Asset Holdings to develop a proof-of-concept that will demonstrate the commercial viability of distributed ledger technology across the Swiss financial market, with an initial prototype for securities lifecycle processing.