The FIX Trading Community, the industry association that manages the world’s trading language, the FIX Protocol, has released a comprehensive manual on digital assets and blockchain technology for finance professionals – Blockchain Basics.
Developed in partnership with QUBIC Labs, Blockchain Basics bridges the gap between DeFi and TradFi. It covers core concepts; regulatory context; tokenization; digital asset types and uses; technical integration from a FIX perspective; workflow assessments and impacts; future trends; and provides useful guides and checklists for firms to get started using DeFi assets and tools.
Co-author and FIX Director Lee Saba, who is also FIX Global Steering Committee Co-Chair and Head of Market Structure at Rialto Markets, said this guide finally tackles an issue in traditional finance that has been known about for a long time.
“Until now there has been no single, vendor-neutral source of information and education on how to understand, think about and implement DeFi into systems and workflows based on FIX,” he said. “All firms that trade use FIX in some capacity, and Blockchain Basics captures all the information they need in one place when they’re considering DeFi products and solutions.”
Co-author and QUBIC Labs Executive Chairman, Ian Cain, said FIX was the ideal partner in its efforts to bridge DeFi and TradFi. “QUBIC Labs exists to help integrate these two worlds for the benefit of everyone – markets, firms and individuals,” he said. “FIX is the universal language of trading, and its members represent the world’s most respected TradFi firms, so this is an excellent way to educate more finance professionals about the ways DeFi can help bring new efficiencies and innovation to their work – and vice versa.”
Blockchain Basics is available free on the FIX website. FIX has also published a set of recommended practices for digital assets, guiding firms on technical implementation matters around digital asset workflows and trading, available here.
FIX will hold an event with the paper’s authors in Boston on June 11th from 4:30-7pm at State Street, One Congress Street, Boston. The event is free for FIX Trading Community members and interested parties can find out more and register here.
The FIX Trading Community is an independent global community where capital markets firms come together to solve common issues and shape the evolution of capital markets. FIX groups in over 60 countries are working on a range of global issues including digital assets; reference data; carbon trading; AI; algo trading; FICC and ETFs, while country and regional committees work together to manage local regulation and market structure matters.
