Among one of the most talked-about digital technologies, blockchain fever is gripping the world like never before. The open ledger technology is sweeping business sectors across the industry, thanks to its immutability and rock-solid safety aspect. The very basic decentralized characteristic of the blockchain is finding favor among a host of stakeholders from all walks of life. Unlike the cryptocurrency, which still attracts some opposition from Government and Federal agencies, the utility of blockchain is accepted by one and all.
Blockchain Adoption and Usages
Not only for commercial purposes, but the blockchain technology is also widely used in many governmental and public welfare schemes. Projects related to administration, providing better medical services, keeping track of court cases, and enhancing the overall operating efficiency of the system are increasingly utilizing the blockchain technology. This explains the widespread adoption of blockchain spread equally among both private and public participants globally.
Nation-wide scenario
Some countries took the lead in the adoption of blockchain technology. Prominent among these nations include Switzerland, Japan, Estonia, and Malta. Some other countries, such as Sweden, France, and Germany, picked up the pace only in 2019 when it comes to blockchain adoption. In fact, the whole of Europe has witnessed an open and all-embracing attitude towards blockchain technology in 2019, with more and more governments realizing the game-changing potential of this open distributed technology.
Some of the economic superpowers like the US, China, UK, India, etc., have ramped their efforts as these countries try to integrate blockchain in a whole lot of their operations. Specifically, the major change we have witnessed in 2019 is the regulations adopted by many countries with respect to the use of blockchain for different projects and operational procedures. Worth mentioning here is the regulatory efforts of the European Commission, which provides a clear and transparent idea about applications of blockchain in different scenarios.
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It’s not that all regulations are positive for the adoption of blockchain, but at least these regulations provide a clear cut picture about the usage and application of the open ledger technology. It is also important to note that different regulatory bodies have a different viewpoint about blockchain and tokens (consider the contrasting approach adopted by US’s SEC and UK’s FCA on tokens), which means there are differences in operations when it comes to the different applications of blockchain technology.
Commercial Applications
In the commercial space, we have witnessed the growth of blockchain tremendously. The various projects related to blockchain have come out from their experimental regime and started yielding real-world profits for organizations. The use of Ethereum has gathered the pace and its advantage in realizing the decentralized financial movement is hailed by all stakeholders involved in the process. Along with technology, platforms offering smart contracts are also maturing in their approach and product innovations. Sylo, for instance, has made tremendous gains and today considered as the popular dApp with an enviable growth rate.
One of the well known Indian conglomerates, Mahindra has started the use of blockchain in their Agricultural export business. The well-knows automaker Audi is making progress with the integration of blockchain in its financial and supply-chain operations. Blockchain has further widened its operational domain in the financial sector, with almost all major banks and commercial organizations using the open ledger in one or another form.
Gaming Industry and Blockchain
Particularly in the gaming industry, the application of blockchain deserves special attention. Gods Unchained, a game by Immutable based on blockchain technology, has raised $15 million by trading their one card for more than 146 ETH earlier this year. We have also witnessed the release of Enjin’s software development kit (SDK) for the leading game engine in the world, the Unity. This clearly indicates that we are heading toward the era of realizing full blockchain potential in the gaming industry.
Technology Giants and Blockchain
Technology giants such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Microsoft, Google, IBM, etc., have built upon their blockchain competence and developing new applications for further integrating open ledger into their system. In fact, we also have witnesses efforts aimed at using blockchain technology to clear the space debris thanks to the alarm raised about deteriorating space conditions by many environmental agencies and activists.
Conclusion
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In sum, the blockchain technology has spread its wings above and beyond its traditional application areas this year. 2019 has given impetus to the adoption of blockchain, and the technology continues to receive thumbs up from most governmental and commercial organizations. The coming year is expected to show the results along the same lines, with experts predicting the higher rate of blockchain adoption in the year 2020.
