Permissioned Blockchain by Banks Gains Popularity Again, Ethereum Seen as a Better Choice

Jeff John Roberts, editor of the finance and crypto section at Fortune magazine, points out that traditional financial institutions on Wall Street are actively embracing blockchain technology. This includes a pilot program for tokenized stocks launched by DTCC in collaboration with JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, as well as the London Stock Exchange's plan to introduce 24-hour stock trading based on blockchain within the year. The "blockchain" mentioned by these institutions is actually a permissioned network, such as DTCC's Hyperledger Besu network or the Canton Network, which fundamentally differs from decentralized public chains like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Omid Malekan, a part-time professor at Columbia Business School, states that the current wave of permissioned blockchains is destined to fail because any permissioned chain will favor specific corporate interests, making it difficult to achieve widespread adoption in the long run. He draws a parallel to the 2016 slogan "blockchain, not Bitcoin," noting that banks invested heavily at that time but saw little return, while decentralized blockchains thrived. This round of permissioned blockchain hype may end in a similar way, with Ethereum remaining the more practical software layer to support the next wave of financial innovation.