A report published by Deloitte has revealed that at least 40 percent of surveyed companies are interested in investing upwards of $5 million in blockchain technology sometime within the next 12 months.
The survey conducted by the multinational professional services network also found that 53 percent of respondents agree that blockchain has become a critical priority for their organization in 2019.
Companies Investing in Blockchain to Make Business Easier
The report, titled “Deloitte’s 2019 Global Blockchain Survey,” stated that blockchain investments are looking strong, even as the cryptocurrency market has failed to scale new all-time highs. While 27 percent of respondents said that potential blockchain investments for their firm would be in the $1-5 million range, another 23 percent committed to a range between $5-10 million. Finally, 18 percent said that their firm would invest $10 million in various blockchain-related efforts.
The survey also found that data validation, data access/sharing, identity protection, payments, and digital currency were the top five use cases for the technology that companies are interested in. Firms are considering process efficiency and cost-saving to be the two big results of increased blockchain adoption.
The report also saw 23 percent of respondents reporting “new business models and value chains” as one of the biggest advantages of blockchain for their companies. 71 percent of them also agreed that blockchain is capable of providing a greater level of security than traditional systems. Similarly, they acknowledged that the technology has become a critical (top five) priority for their organization.
Changing Attitude Towards Blockchain?
Blockchain relevance has enjoyed a 10 point growth since 2018. The biggest jump came in respondents’ plans for “Changing the current systems of record with blockchain”. Most also shared the sentiment that blockchain has broad scalability and will soon have mainstream relevance and adoption.
The report further explains that while many respondents agree that blockchain is gaining traction, executives have a more pragmatic view of its adoption. While the attitude of respondents remained strongly positive, 43 percent held the view that the technology has been largely overhyped.
Privacy-related regulations were among the highest matters of concern for organizations. The biggest barrier for blockchain to overcome still appears to be related to replacing existing legacy systems. Hiring staff with blockchain experience also became commonplace across various industries. Notably, the United States was found to have the highest use of blockchain in production.
According to another report published by Hired in February 2019, the demand for software engineers with blockchain development skills increased by over 500 percent over the past year. Deloitte’s report shows a greater balance of expectations and concerns from major organizations, leading to a more practical and sensible blockchain landscape for the future.
Do you believe that blockchain technology continues to have massive untapped potential and that the space needs significant investment for innovation to take place? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.