Australian Stock Exchange fires developers working on blockchain project

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Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) is ending its relationship with the 200 developers tasked with implementing blockchain into the ASX clearing and settlement system, CHESS.

The system has been in operation for 25 years, managing the settlement of stock trades and recording participation shares in daily trading volume. In total, the system processes about $3.2 billion daily.

The exchange planned to update the system to giveissuers and investors have greater control and secure the market activities of the exchange. However, an independent audit conducted by Accenture identified many problems, including technical limitations and delays associated with the application programming interface (API), as well as scalability issues.

The project started back in 2017,however development turned out to be too expensive and time-consuming. The release date was constantly postponed until 2024, and then completely canceled. The company does not intend to transfer developers to other projects related to cryptocurrencies or blockchain, so they are simply fired.

The company emphasized that the CHESS system in its current form still remains secure and stable, despite the problems associated with trying to update it.

Earlier, the Technology Council of Australia (TCA) said that proper regulation of digital assets could help grow the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry, adding $40 billion to Australia's GDP.