The New York Stock Exchange is 234 years old and its grand stone edifice stands as one of the world’s most enduring symbols of capitalism. So it came as big news last week when the NYSE announced it planned to implement a dramatic technology upgrade by putting thousands of stocks on the blockchain—a nod to the growing influence of the crypto industry, which is already selling tokenized versions of equities. One academic, however, suspects the plan is just smoke and mirrors, and shared his skepticism on the latest episode of Fortune’s Crypto Playbook vodcast, which you can enjoy on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube.
According to Professor Omid Malekan, who teaches a blockchain course at Columbia Business School, NYSE’s press release suggested the exchange was seeking to reap publicity, while providing little in the way of specifics.
“The announcement was very high on hype and very short on details. And I always find that telling, because there has been a tendency over the years with crypto where you have established incumbents announce something very exciting, but then years later, nothing comes of it,” said Malekan.
He pointed out that the NYSE lacked serious technical specifications and failed even to state which blockchain the exchange planned to use for its grand plans. Also worrying, said Malekan, is that the plan appeared designed to include all of its current business partners, some of which have direct financial ties to NYSE.
