McKinsey Reports Blockchain’s Potentials, Limitations, and Future

Blockchain technology has attracted significant attention since it was brought into the limelight a decade ago by Bitcoin (BTC) and the innovation has gradually been gaining traction in several industries across the globe, however, distributed ledger technology (DLT) is yet to become the game-changer, reported McKinsey & Company, an American management consulting company, on January 6, 2018.

Blockchain’s Lack of Simplicity

In a report, titled, “Blockchain’s Occam Problem,” Mckinsey explained that blockchain, like many other emerging technologies, has received its fair share of acknowledgment and challenges. The firm underlined the fact that this is not uncommon for any nascent technology.

The company highlighted the significant adoption of the innovation in industries such as banking, healthcare, and even the arts, as well as the massive investments that have entered the space in recent times.

Mckinsey reports that industries, regulators, and financial technologists have remarked on blockchain’s potential when it comes to accountability and transparency. That is why it has found over 100 use cases including KYC applications and smart contracts.

Despite these great DLT capabilities, the company is of the opinion that blockchain adoption has come to a halt at the pioneering stage. Usually, every modern technology goes through a lifecycle made up of four steps made up of pioneering, growth, maturity, and exhibition.

A number of factors have been attributed to this decline at its first stage. and some of these equate to a lack of trust due to the level of caution exercised by industries and the emergence of related technologies that may have more promising potentials.

In the first instance, Mckinsey notes that financial services led the adoption of blockchain by several industries through their substantial investment in the technology. Despite this, there is still a lot of doubt in the minds of market participants.

Doubts Still Abound

Uncertainties turn around the fact that the technology is too immature and is not ready for use at the enterprise level, and the fear of commercial viability where the revenue yielded will be insignificant.

Mckinsey has predicted the future of blockchain technology, and in their opinion, it will gain more use cases in areas where transparency is required in the supply chain, due to its immutability feature.

Finally, the report concludes that there is no guarantee that the DLT will progress past the pioneering stage. Nevertheless, this may happen if three fundamental principles are adhered to.

These are an organization’s willingness to start a problem, a clear cut-out business target, and a company’s commitment to deliver use cases. At current, DLT remains the rave of the moment, as several forward-thinking firms and governments are seriously experimenting with blockchain technology.

On January 4, 2018, BTCManager informed that Thailand is contemplating the use of blockchain solutions for elections. Beyond the world of finance, however, the use of blockchain technology has been speculative.