Want to know where is the future of blockchain headed? Read on to get detailed insights into the future potential of blockchain with a brief overview of blockchain basics.
Blockchain technology is new even after a decade of its introduction. The popularity of blockchain has been improving largely because of the successful adoption of its applications across different sectors. The foundation of distributed digital ledger technology brings many benefits by documenting records of all transactions involving data or money.
The records of transactions between any two parties could be stored easily with transparency, security, and immutability. However, the popularity of blockchain definitely calls out for doubts regarding the future of blockchain. The following discussion tries to dive into insights regarding the future prospects associated with blockchain technology.
A detailed impression of the future of blockchain technology is possible when you understand its existing state. As a matter of fact, the existing stage of blockchain technology can show how it can grow in the future. So, it is important to support any discussion on the future potential of blockchain with a brief overview of its definition, working, and key traits.
With a detailed overview of the significance of blockchain technology in present times, you can reflect on different industries that have experienced the applications of blockchain technology. Finally, readers can turn their attention towards blockchain future opportunities and developments.
The interest in blockchain technology escalated profoundly in recent times. The demand for blockchain skills increased at a rate of 2000% in the period between 2017 and 2020, indicating the significance of blockchain as a sought-after proficiency. So, there is enough promise for turning the scope of your attention towards the future prospects with blockchain technology.
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What is the Blockchain Technology?
Blockchain is one of the distributed ledger technology which enables sharing of an immutable ledger among network participants. The ledger works in the documentation of transactions alongside tracking assets throughout a business network. The assets in question for blockchain technology applications can include tangible as well as intangible assets.
Tangible assets can refer to cash, house, land, or a car. Intangible assets, on the other hand, include examples of intellectual property, branding, copyrights, and patents. Blockchain is the future because it can help in tracking and trading almost anything of value on a virtual platform. Interestingly, blockchain takes away the concerns of risks and costs involved in such transactions traditionally.
Businesses could build blockchain networks with different approaches. The public blockchain networks can allow any individual to access the network. Private blockchain networks have a specific organization governing the network. Permissioned blockchain networks involve the need for participants to obtain permission or invitation for joining the network. Blockchain networks could also be consortium blockchains that are developed and taken care of by a collection of organizations.
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Value Traits in Blockchain Technology
Blockchain technology is open, shared, and highly secure. Any transaction on the network is visible to all participants. However, the authorized participants could only access a transaction on the blockchain. So, it is inevitable to wonder about the secret ingredient that can keep blockchain technology going in the future? Any blockchain prediction for the future would obviously depend on the value advantage it delivers to enterprises. Let us take a look at the unique elements which define the value of blockchain technology.
1. Trust
Users could add new information to the blockchain ledger only after the approval of a majority of network participants. Network participants provide approval for transactions after they get reliable proof of that the fact that the cryptographically transmitted information is true.
2. Immutability and Transparency
The next important traits which would determine the future of blockchain include immutability and transparency. Immutability suggests that new information could be added on a blockchain only to the previous data. In addition, it is impossible to modify or lose information once it is added to the blockchain network. Transparency is evident in blockchain with the fact that any network participant could audit the changes on the ledger.
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3. Significant Improvements
The value benefits of blockchain technology in cost savings and improving the speed of transactions are clearly dominant highlights. Blockchain could help in taking away intermediaries, thereby offering promising cost reduction benefits. In addition, blockchain can enable business transactions at any time without any setbacks. Most important of all, blockchain facilitates better speed in transactions involving money or other assets.
4. Decentralization
The most critical factor for the future of blockchain technology would obviously point towards decentralization. The blockchain ledger is not under the maintenance of a particular individual, governance, or company. On the contrary, all the computers participating in the network take care of the maintenance of the blockchain network. Therefore, any two parties could engage in transactions without any centralized authority for establishing trust for the transaction.
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Existing Applications of Blockchain
The potential of blockchain is truly massive. However, there are many doubts regarding how blockchain would fare in the future. So, it is important to draw an impression of the various industries which have been through a positive transformation with blockchain. One of the notable examples of enterprise blockchain platforms that have gained radical popularity is IBM blockchain. The different existing applications could give a glimpse of the blockchain future prospects. Here are some of the notable use cases of IBM blockchain.
- INBLOCK utilizes IBM LinuxONE for addressing cryptocurrency technical issues. As a result, it can ensure better convenience, safety, and speed with digital asset transactions.
- Plastic Bank leverages a blockchain banking platform running on the IBM cloud for offering a high-security, scalable reward system for collecting and recycling plastic.
- The leading grocery retailer in the US, Kroger, utilizes IBM Food Trust for working with suppliers on tracing food from farm to store shelves.
- Spotify utilizes blockchain for managing copyrights.
- Eastman Kodak depends on blockchain-based services for creating storage for stock photos.
Therefore, it is clearly evident that all the blockchain predictions till now have come true. It has transformed the way we perceive financial transactions and the security of information exchange across public networks. Furthermore, blockchain also presents cost benefits and value for enterprises with better scope for scalability. However, it is also reasonable to focus on the future trends expected with blockchain technology. The future trends can provide a clear impression of the way people and businesses would perceive blockchain in the future.
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Future of Blockchain Technology – Latest Trends
The world witnessed a radical shift in almost every field, starting from governance to manufacturing after a global pandemic. People were restricted to the confines of their homes, and global corporate organizations had to run their operations remotely. At the same time, the drive for digital transformation also gained momentum, thereby calling for the adoption of blockchain technology. However, it is reasonable to focus on the feasibility of blockchain in the long run. Let us take a look at some of the top trends about the future of blockchain.
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Financial Sector Would Lead in Blockchain Application
The banking and finance industries do not need radical upheaval of existing processes for adopting blockchain technology. Financial institutions are readily accepting the use of blockchain in finance for conventional banking operations. According to a recent study, distributed ledger technologies along with blockchain can help in reducing the costs for financial service providers by almost $15 billion to $20 billion annually by 2022. In addition, Gartner had predicted that the banking industry would leverage blockchain for deriving business value over $1 billion by 2022. So, it is easy to say that blockchain is the future of the banking and finance industry with its exceptional prospects.
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Demand for Blockchain Expertise Continues to Escalate
As the world recognizes the potential of blockchain technology, enterprises would need professionals with the right blockchain skills and knowledge. However, the popularity of blockchain as a technology has not affected the supply of blockchain talent. The online freelancing platform, Upwork, has recently reported a radical growth in demand for people with blockchain expertise. Since the technology is comparatively new with limited awareness, it is difficult to find a lot of blockchain engineers.
Therefore, the blockchain future definitely holds some lucrative career opportunities for aspiring professionals. The massive skill gap for blockchain technology also ensures the scope for better remuneration of blockchain professionals. With the right professional training and certification for particular blockchain job roles, you can score a promising blockchain career in the future.
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New Governance Models
The blockchain landscape is growing radically, and new governance models are the need of the hour. So, how will these new governance models work? You can look at governance models capable of enabling massive and diverse consortia for better efficiency in decision-making, payments, and permissioning schemes. The new governance models will rightly be the future of blockchain technology by ensuring the standardization of information from various sources.
In addition, the new governance models can help in collecting new and more resilient data sets. Almost 68% of CIOs and CTOs perceive the need for a scalable governance model to support interactions over multiple blockchain networks. The scalable governance model is a mandatory feature that will be seen in the blockchain environment of organizations in the coming years.
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The Blockchain-IoT Connection
Combining other technologies with blockchain can help us in achieving many promising milestones. Blockchain can offer credible data for informing and strengthening underlying algorithms of adjacent technologies. In addition, blockchain could also ensure data security alongside a comprehensively detailed audit of each step in the decision-making process.
According to the International Data Corporation or IDC, many IoT companies are thinking of using blockchain technology with their solutions.
IDC also expected that around 35% of IoT deployments would enable blockchain services by 2025. This combined prediction for blockchain and IoT could amplify in the future with the blockchain technology offering a secure and scalable framework to facilitate communication among IoT devices. Furthermore, blockchain can also enable smart devices for executing automated micro-transactions with better speed and cost-efficiency. You can also look at the possibilities of IoT devices using smart contracts for transferring information or money.
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Better Integration of Smart Contracts and Law
Blockchain technology definitely presents futuristic possibilities with the functionalities of smart contracts. The basic idea of a smart contract is the automatic execution of certain tasks upon fulfillment of certain conditions. However, it is possible to look at a future where other conditions in smart contracts could also be subject to automatic regulation.
One of the prominent examples of blockchain future applications in legal applications is the pilot blockchain project by Insurers AIG for the creation of complex insurance policies. However, it is difficult to find an even ground for disputes between participants of smart contracts. So, it is reasonable to look at a future where the rule of law applies to smart contracts for resolving disputes between the parties.
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Blockchain Interconnectivity May Move to the Next Level
It is definitely too soon to say that we have reached the maximum level of interconnectivity. At the same time, interoperability is also essential for ensuring seamless operations across multiple platforms. Around 83% of organizations believe that assurance of standards and governance for interconnectivity and interoperability among permissioned and permissionless blockchain networks is important for joining an industry-wide blockchain network.
Furthermore, almost one-fifth of the organizations believed governance and standards as essential factors for interconnectivity and interoperability. With new technological developments in this field, it is reasonable to expect more members requesting guidance on integration among different protocols. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume a possible future in which blockchain platforms do not restrict any enterprise. This can be a crucial factor in driving industry-wide blockchain adoption without any onboarding difficulties.
Final Words
It is clear that blockchain trends for the future are focused on different themes, working towards continuous improvement of value for users. On the other hand, the enterprise perspective on the blockchain would have a formidable influence on the future of blockchain. Many people belittled the prospects of blockchain technology applications in different sectors.
However, it has successfully evaded all the negative assumptions to reach a favorable state with blockchain applications across various use cases. The future prospects for blockchain technology rely heavily on innovation and could present promising value for enterprises. Apart from the conventional functionalities and applications of blockchain, enterprises are looking at new ways to leverage blockchain in the future.
*Disclaimer: The article should not be taken as, and is not intended to provide any investment advice. Claims made in this article do not constitute investment advice and should not be taken as such. 101 Blockchains shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person who relies on this article. Do your own research!
