In a flurry of blockchain investment, activity, and hype, and hyperbole, enterprises are left wondering: Is a “protocol-based” trust system actually viable for business?
In 2015 and 2016, blockchain, the distributed ledger technology born of Bitcoin, enjoyed a blossoming beyond cryptocurrency and logging financial transactions, to an architecture capable of supporting the logging of events. The ability to log events like signing a document, casting a vote, transferring energy units, and sensor data thresholds, among others, renders blockchain an attractive architecture for countless use cases. The expansion of blockchain’s application from currency-based into events-based transactions turned heads across all industries, from automotive to healthcare, manufacturing, energy, and beyond.
But while the blockchain market has generated massive interest and investment from just about every type of institution, the reality today is that enterprise blockchain applications are extremely nascent with very few deployments in production outside of Bitcoin. Whether deciding to jump on the bandwagon, or write it off as hype, businesses are well advised to first understand what blockchain is (and is not), as well as how blockchain technologies could support their core objectives and long-term strategies. Is there a real business opportunity in blockchain?
In our analysis of the space, we identify 3 trends, outlined in the full article, characterizing this emerging space:
- Significant and Widespread Potential for Cost Savings
- New Revenue Structures Emerging in a Blockchain-Enabled Economy
- Blockchain Adoption Challenges, Despite High Potential Enterprise Value