Editorial

PwC: 84% of companies are conducting some kind of Blockchain work

‘Everyone is talking about blockchain, and no one wants to be left behind’

Posted 29 August 2018 by Gary Flood


The vast majority – 84% of companies claim to be “actively involved” with blockchain, according to global Big Four firm PwC.

The intriguing datum is from the consultancy’s 2018 Global Blockchain Survey, which included input from 600 executives in countries from 15 territories and which well sums up the current level of attention distributed ledger is getting from the C-suite as, “Everyone is talking about blockchain, and no one wants to be left behind.”

A high 30% said they see China as a serious contender for future blockchain leadership,

That being said, respondents are also trying to maintain a balanced perspective here, says the firm – which notes that almost half, 45%, said “trust” is likely to be the major obstacle to the technology’s wider adoption: “As with any emerging technology, challenges and doubts exist around blockchain’s reliability, speed, security and scalability.”

Executives polled also expressed reservations about the impact of regulatory uncertainty, “ability to bring the network together,” compliance concerns, and intellectual property concerns as other potential challenges in terms of universal blockchain adoption.

But the study also reminds us why people like those contacted are so prepared to still give it a try – with Gartner forecasting that blockchain will generate an annual business value of more than $3 trillion by 2030, and the study also noting that, “It’s possible to imagine that 10% to 20% of global economic infrastructure will be running on blockchain-based systems by that same year.”

The study goes on to present four strategies to achieve blockchain success, which include an “evolution, not revolution” approach and contributing to “building an industry ecosystem”.