Blockchain technology will bring either doom or opportunity to securities services firms, according to European banking giant BNP Paribas. He added: "In its purest form, a distributed blockchain system allows all market participants direct access to the DSD (Decentralised Securities Depositary), to the exchange and to the post-trade infrastructure (clearing & settlement). If this setup develops then existing industry players might be redundant." Despite this disruptive potential, investors may still require institutions to hold their private keys, due to the difficulty of protecting them. These same custodians may launch their own network or provide an application layer on top of the blockchain, he added.

http://www.coindesk.com/bnp-paribas-blockchains-will-destroy-or-rebuild-securities-services/