Stock trades timestamped with blockchain that uses atomic clock
A team of researchers from the National Physical Laboratory, the Toronto Stock Exchange and UK-based consultancy Z/Yen have developed an "atomic ledger" based on blockchain technology, which can timestamp stock trades to within nanoseconds. The move was prompted by European Union regulations that come into force in January, requiring accurate, traceable and transparent timestamps. The atomic ledger was tested successfully on the Toronto stock exchange, recording and stamping 20 million transactions.

Current EU regulations for time stamping of stock trades require that all trading venues and market participants coordinate their clocks to UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) and that transactions be stamped in milliseconds.

However, regulations set to come into effect as of Jan. 3, 2018 require timestamps to be more accurate, traceable and transparent for greater consumer protection.

This regulation has been met with some concern over what technology can implement the requirements.

However, the National Physical Laboratory, the Toronto Stock Exchange (TMX), and UK-based consultancy Z/Yen have come together to bring atomic clock timestamp precision to trades over a Blockchain database.

The database, called ‘Atomic Ledger’ timestamps trades within nanoseconds and is completely transparent. It also records time on the atomic clock, providing highly accurate time stamping.

The group tested the new technology on the Toronto exchange with great success. Having recorded and stamped 20 mln transactions, the results will be analyzed this week.

Professor Michael Mainelli, executive chairman, Z/Yen Group, says: