The new blockchain problem: too many blockchains

As institutions finally embrace blockchain technology, they are creating an ecosystem even more fragmented than the decentralised one they sought to tame; the original Web3 vision championed decentralisation as liberation from centralised gatekeepers. Bitcoin, Ethereum and their descendants offered a unified dream: interoperable networks where assets move seamlessly without asking permission. Web3 also promised a decentralised future where value flows freely across borderless networks. However, as banks and traditional financial institutions have embraced blockchain technology, they have brought their institutional instincts with them - and those instincts favour control over collaboration.

Source: X

Today, JPMorgan has its own blockchain, Onyx, Goldman Sachs is building its own digital asset platform whilst HSBC, BNY Mellon and dozens of other banks are each constructing proprietary blockchain infrastructures. And rather than converging on shared rails, the institutional adoption of bl…