By Daniel Cooper, Charlotte Hill, Sophie Bertin and Gemma Nash ( October 10, 2018, 2:48 PM EDT) -- Blockchain technology (a form of distributed ledger technology) is considered as being able to fundamentally change all aspects of today's business. While the technology's claim to fame is its role as the architecture of the cryptocurrency bitcoin, it will certainly play a revolutionary role much more broadly. It is expected that all industries will be affected. When looking at the financial services industry, there are expectations that all parts of it will be impacted: for instance cash payments, trading, clearing and settlement, as well as all middle- and back-office functions. The recent example of Austria emitting government bonds on blockchain gives a glimpse of the potential for change. However, the benefits of blockchain are still to be demonstrated, and some challenges have already emerged. One of them is how the technology can comply with new privacy legislation. In particular, the recently introduced General Data Protection Regulation can be seen as a possible roadblock in terms of the technology's future development....