ASIC Appoints Three-Member Expert Panel to Investigate ASX Blockchain Failure
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has stepped forward to launch a full-scale investigation into the failed blockchain revolution by the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), appointing a three-member expert panel to assist in determining governance and management failures linked with the collapse.
Guy Debelle and Rob Whitfield are Appointed to Panel
Guy Debelle, former deputy governor of Reserve Bank, has joined the panel, with Rob Whitfield, non-executive director of Commonwealth Bank, to chair. Christine Holman, board director at AGL and Collins Foods, completes the team.
ASIC has asked the panel to find what areas ASX’s risk management, governance, and technology fell short in and could possibly have led to the failure.
Panel to Report Back by March 2026
The board will be required to report by March 31, 2026. ASIC’s regulator action and rebuilding trust in the nation’s premier securities exchange will be guided by the report.
ASX has formally invited the investigation and has committed to being completely cooperative with the board.
Inside ASX’s Failed Blockchain Ambition
ASX first unveiled the ambitious blockchain replacement for its CHESS system in 2015, partnering with New York startup Digital Asset Holdings. The project aimed to overhaul settlement and clearing operations through distributed ledger technology.
Things didn’t end well. Critics sounded the alarm over the untested scalability of the system, as well as its complicated architecture and frail external support. In late 2024, ASX officially canceled the project, blaming it on faulty administration and systemic problems.
The total cost rose to between 245 and 255 million AUD (approximately $164–$171 million USD) with severe industry condemnation and loss of prestige for the exchange.
