PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has organised a team of 15 fintech specialists that will focus on exploiting and commercialising of blockchain.

This step is an answer to the demand coming from the company’s clients who want to understand the implications of the blockchain technology, says Steve Davies, PwC partner and EMEA FinTech Leader.

The blockchain group will be based in PwC’s Belfast office and is supposed to grow to up to 40 members in 2016.

Although the future role of bitcoin is questionable and there can be no certainty as to whether it will be adopted as a mainstream currency, blockchain as a technology seems to be very promising and “highly resistant to malicious tampering,” writes the blog. This advantage stimulates worldwide interest towards blockchain. At the same time, this cutting-edge technology is developing so rapidly that nobody can be sure what its impact would be in the near future. This makes blockchain “disruptive” however advanced the technology may be, said Ashley Unwin, PwC UK Executive Board member and UK and EMEA consulting leader.

Despite the quick growth and “disruptive” nature of blockchain, the awareness of the financial community is still not enough. PwC refers to a survey made by the company and yet to be published, which covered 545 leading asset managers, FinTech businesses and key players in banks, fund transfer payment companies and insurers. “Only 9% of asset managers are very familiar and just under 3 in 10 are not at all familiar with blockchain,” says the company blog.

Governments, not only firms, express interest towards blockchain. CoinFox has written about Sir Mark Walport, the UK's chief scientific adviser, urging the government to adopt the technology for tax collection and passport issuing. Governmental interest for blockchain is also a cause for the launch of PwC’s new fintech team.

PwC is a global network of companies with 208,000 employees in 157 countries, offering strategic advisory, audit and tax services.


Andrew Levich