those seeking to adapt to the changes occurring in demand, from those spurious novelties that provide no significant improvements and which should be blocked as soon as possible. in other words, what is truly important should be separated from what is simply showy. in this respect, cryptoassets or cryptotokens are one of the most striking developments in this area, going by the extensive media coverage some of them – such as the bitcoin – are receiving. but this does not mean that they are the most important or even the most promising innovation. indeed, in my view, their current use poses more risks than benefits : they have a low level of acceptance as a means of payment, they are subject to extreme 3 / 6 volatility, they have numerous operating vulnerabilities and they have been related to fraudulent or illicit activities in many cases. i shall not, however, give an exhaustive list of the risks of crypto assets, since the position of the banco de espana in this connection is well - known. but i will draw attention to how important it is to disassociate cryptoassets or tokens from their underlying distributed ledger technology. distributed ledger technology offers interesting possibilities insofar as it allows, in short, a ledger book to be shared securely among various agents. although this technology is not yet sufficiently mature, it has the potential to generate efficiency gains and cost cuts in activities that require continuous reconciliations among various agents, either because such activities are relatively non - standardised, involve a high number of intermediaries or require complex processes. areas such as securities trading and post - trading, international settlements, collateral management, trade finance and the management of digital identities might benefit from the use of this technology once it ultimately matures. also, the programming of smart contracts on a distributed network might add further gains in efficiency, by providing for the automation of processes. this is so, especially, in the case of complex contracts that give rise to multiple transactions distributed over time or conditional upon one another. other innovations receiving less media attention than cryptotokens nevertheless appear to be more mature and are, in practice, exerting a notable impact on the way in which financial institutions in general, and banks in particular, provide their services. i am referring specifically to big data, artificial intelligence and what is known as cloud computing. big data offer clear potential for enhancing and personalising the supply of financial services. true, financial institutions have for

some time been using massive data processing techniques to enhance knowledge of their customers and to personalise their services. however, these possibilities have now been boosted thanks to the growing volume of information that is available in digital formats, cheaper storage costs and the increase in computing power. the moves in big data are in fact boosting the development of other technologies that go beyond mere data processing. this is the case of artificial intelligence and automatic learning. they have numerous applications in the financial sector and are directed not only at end - products and customer relations, but are also transforming other financial servicesprovision facets, including banks ’ in - house operations in areas such as risk management or regulatory compliance. the use of virtual agents or virtual recognition is already contributing to enhancing users ’ relationship with financial services - providers. but artificial intelligence and automatic learning can also be applied to tasks such as automatic information reconciliation, fraud detection, risk mitigation and regulatory compliance. the final innovation i should like to mention in this brief review is cloud computing. in an environment in which data are configured as a strategic asset, this technique enables new 4 / 6 solutions to be offered with greater speed, cost efficiencies to be attained and business process adaptation to become more nimble. that said, this must all be done while maintaining an appropriate level of security, especially as far as critical areas are concerned. a little historical perspective suffices to see the improvements that new technologies can bring to users. credit and debit cards, atms and on - line banking are obvious examples of past innovations that have changed our day - to - day for the better. the success of these changes, however, has been closely bound up with the appropriate treatment of risks and the vulnerabilities that inevitably accompany these processes. the move to a more digital economy is accompanied by greater cyber threats, and new measures safeguarding processes, assets and customer data must be developed. along with paying particular attention to the management of these threats, it will also be essential to respond to the challenges stemming from the concentration of operational risk among a small number of critical service - providers, or those arising from customer protection. financial services - providers must also meet the challenge of understanding in their full dimension the functioning and results of increasingly automated and autonomous algorithms and procedures. organisational changes to address the challenge of financial innovation the role of regulators and supervisors is to contribute to harnessing in full the benefits of innovation while maintaining risks within reasonable and socially acceptable limits. as you can