Australia's ASX lifts stake in U.S. blockchain developer

[June 22, 2016]  SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian markets operator ASX Ltd said on Wednesday it was exercising an option to lift its stake in U.S. blockchain developer Digital Asset Holdings, stepping up its interest a technology that backers say can ease information tracking and reduce transaction settlement times.

ASX said it would pay $7.16 million to increase its holding in Digital Assets to roughly 8.5 percent from the 5 percent it acquired in January.

Blockchain, or distributed ledger, technology maintains a continuously growing list of transaction data which cannot be tampered with or revised.

Other exchange operators, including Deutsche Boerse and London Stock Exchange have joined hands with financial services and tech heavyweights to build platforms and applications using the blockchain technology.

(Reporting by James Regan; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)

[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.