NuclearPhynance Archive

My employer is trying to be like Google and making a massive push to modularize all of our internal software into standalone platforms. Now I have the unfortunate task of spec'ing out one of these projects. I took a good look at the ecosystem of vendor solutions out there but it feels like everything is commoditized so I'm out of ideas.



With symmetry to [url=/Show%20Post.aspx?PostIDKey=185907]this thread on the interesting things left on the trading side[/url], I'm curious to hear what everyone thinks is interesting work left on the financial software side? Most common pain points that you're experiencing that you wish there were open source or vendor solutions for?



A few things that I'm bearish on:

- Low touch execution seems like the obvious place for consolidation, I think the ORC, RTS, SR Labs, QuantHouse M&A movement is expected and we'll see more of it.

- Blockchain for settlements is ridiculously overhyped. I don't think I've come across any blockchain developer that has worked with Traiana, which is such a massive beast that predates BTC and already behaves like a blockchain.

- Backtesting software. Quantopian and QuantConnect appear to have saturated their reach here but still don't have a scalable business model.

- Time series databases. Tired of seeing the (n+1)th reiteration of column-oriented serialization. I think the most interesting projects here are driven by web-based companies with distributed, cloud-based architectures (like ClickHouse).

>Blockchain for settlements is ridiculously overhyped. I don't think I've come across any blockchain developer that has worked with Traiana, which is such a massive beast that predates BTC and already behaves like a blockchain.



https://financefeeds.com/this-is-not-a-noise-this-is-serious/



"A 30 year career at senior director level at Citi, Deutsche Bank and Traiana has set Andrew Coyne’s new Cobalt DL venture as the first blockchain entry into post-trade settlement. Mr Coyne looks at how it will provide a uniform platform and reduce cost, and how his vast expertise is relevant. Citi, the world’s largest FX dealer, has signed to use the system’s beta..."



I agree blockchain is overrated though.



I thought Clickhouse was preposterous, personally, but he appears to be successful.

1. Go down to retail with apps? Mobile-banks are popping up like crazy.



2. In Blockchain space I think it is far from saturation. e.g. this statement impressed me:

"The cost of today’s process inefficiencies and lack of trust represent $34.4 billion annually."



https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/invoicing-and-payment-processes-in-global-container-shipping-ready-for-disruption/



I have some basic idea how to do it and some inside view about how to approach the industry, but do not feel a "kick inside", perhaps no critical mass.



It is all about DLT (aka blockchain) for ownership and hence for insurance/ credit/ leasing/ investment/ payments. Once it all works you have container migration data, which is yet another commodity.

This looks interesting. Although I’m now bending the meaning of "financial" software away from trading entirely.