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Deloitte’s 2020 Global Blockchain Survey

From promise to reality

Leaders no longer consider blockchain technology groundbreaking and merely promising. Deloitte’s 2020 Global Blockchain Survey suggests that initial doubts about blockchain’s usefulness are fading as business leaders now see it as integral to organisational innovation.
Global Blockchain Survey 2020

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The evolution of blockchain

More than a decade has passed since the introduction of what we know today as blockchain technology. Over that time, the promise of what the technology could offer businesses and industries has evolved from a cryptocurrency payment platform to something bigger, game-changing, and truly disruptive. In recent years, we have seen sentiment about blockchain's potential similarly evolving, along with companies directing actual investment dollars toward applications.

The key takeaway from our 2020 Global Blockchain Survey finds that leaders no longer consider the technology grounbreaking and merely promising - they now see it as integral to organisational innovation. In 2020, both bold and modest in-production proof points across a wide variety of implementation scenerios demonstrate that blockchain technology works - and can work - for many different organisations, businesses, and industries.

Key Findings

In our 2020 Global Blockchain Survey, we uncovered several findings that illustrate a continuing trend in thinking and investment in blockchain space

Digital assets find their footing

Digital assets represent a significant part of blockchain’s enduring sustainability. They can make it easier to view and certify an asset’s historical provenance and allow for otherwise indivisible physical assets to become divisible and more easily traded on secondary markets.

83% of respondents believe digital assets will serve as a strong alternative to, or outright replacement for, fiat currency in the next five to 10 years.

Cybersecurity presents a persistent but manageable challenge

Cybersecurity remains a challenge to blockchain’s adoption and acceptance worldwide. A vast majority of survey respondents say that cybersecurity plays at least some role in their blockchain and digital assets strategic planning.

66% of respondents think cybersecurity concerns may hamper the widespread acceptance and use of digital assets.

Global digital identity has yet to fully realise its potential

Global digital identity is a vital tool in confirming the veracity of an individual’s—or a corporation’s—identity. The full array of benefits will likely remain untapped until the general population develops a greater understanding and acceptance of digital identity and its underlying technologies.

90% of respondents believe global digital identity will be very or somewhat important in their future blockchain and digital assets strategies.

Regulatory requirements may complicate adoption

Though respondents are confident their organisations can meet regulatory challenges that emerge from blockchain’s greater adoption, this confidence may be excessive. Businesses will likely face varying regulatory requirements as they juggle multiple, and sometimes competing or contradictory, regulations imposed by different jurisdictions.

70% of respondents say that the pace of regulatory developments around digital assets and blockchain solutions over the past 12 months is very or somewhat fast.

Blockchain consortia focus on how to govern

Today’s conversations revolve more around how consortia are run, how decisions are made, and how profits are shared across the membership. We found that organisations are—and for good reason—placing an increasing emphasis on performing due diligence and addressing key governance-related concerns.

41% of respondents believe an inability to create fair and balanced governance rules represents the leading challenge to joining a consortium.

2019 Global Blockchain Survey

In our 2019 global blockchain survey released last year, the prevailing question among executives was no longer, “Will the technology work?” but rather, “How can we make technology work for us?” Deloitte’s 2019 global blockchain survey saw an increase in confidence about new and evolving use cases; respondents continue to see the technology as a connecting platform that can enable many business processes. What we witnessed in 2019 was the continuing evolution of blockchain from a capable yet underdeveloped technology into a more refined and mature solution poised to deliver on its initial promise to disrupt.

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