Tech
According to research by Blockdata, 81 of the top 100 companies use blockchain technology
From just two companies – PayPal and Walt Disney – engaging in blockchain in 2014, the adoption of blockchain technology has grown exponentially. Now, 81 of the world’s top 100 public companies by market cap they use blockchain technology, and 27 of them have a fully functional live product, according to blockchain research firm Blockdata.
Blockdata’s latest research examines how many of the world’s top 100 public companies use blockchain technology, the blockchain companies they have invested in, and their public stance on cryptocurrency.
Blockchain technology is maturing
Of the 81 companies, 65 are actively developing blockchain solutions, while 16 remain in a research phase. Microsoft, Amazon, Tencent, Nvidia, JP Morgan, Walmart, Alibaba, PayPal, Samsung and the Bank of China are among the 27 companies with live blockchain operations. “This really shows that the technology is maturing among large institutions,” the Blockdata co-founder said Luca Schweiger in an interview with Forkast.News.
“It is clear that blockchain adoption is occurring among enterprises, with growing interest from those on the sidelines,” Schweiger wrote in a report. “Technology has been praised and condemned in the public eye for many years, but it is becoming increasingly clear that technology is what has remained consistent and stable during these volatile price market cycles.”
Building blockchain infrastructure
Blockdata research has found that blockchain technology is used in areas such as payments, identity and reputation, financial marketbanking, supply chain and logistics, with use cases including blockchain as a service (BaaS), interbank transactions and traceability.
Building blockchain infrastructure for multiple use cases that include finance or supply chain management has been a key trend. US e-commerce giant Amazon and Chinese technology companies Alibaba and Tencent have developed blockchain-as-a-service products intended to help other companies build their own blockchain applications. Samsung SDS, the technology and security subsidiary of the South Korean conglomerate Samsung, provides a number of blockchain-based products such as an enterprise blockchain platform called Nexledger, a supply chain traceability platform called Cello Trust, and the Samsung blockchain wallet, a non-custodial wallet for Galaxy phones users.
Many large private companies, not included in the report, are also leveraging blockchain. Chinese telecommunications provider Huawei She said this week that its Huawei Cloud blockchain has been applied in more than 70 projects across seven major industries, helping companies build enterprise-level blockchain industry applications quickly, efficiently and at low cost. For example, the DCI blockchain digital copyright service facilitates digital copyright protection. Blockchain technology also allows you to track authenticity of the tea and reduce counterfeiting.
“Companies have a fundamental understanding that they need to develop the tools to further reduce the amount of time it takes to implement technology,” said Jonathan Knegtel, co-founder and CEO of Blockdata, in an interview with Forkast.News. “This is the groundwork that needs to be done before we can have large-scale adoption in the future.”
Blockdata found that there are 30 different distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) currently used by the top 100 public companies. Hyperregistered fabric was the most preferred DLT, used by 26% of companies, followed by Ethereum at 18%, ConsenSys Quorum to 11% e R3 chord at 8%.
Technology and financial companies lead blockchain investments
Blockdata also discovered this 36 of the top 100 Public companies have invested a combined $3.5 billion in 101 blockchain companies across 140 investment rounds. Companies that have received investment funding mainly focus on blockchain infrastructure, payments, business services and other blockchain services. Technology and financial companies have led blockchain investments, with Alphabet, Google’s parent company, by far the most active investor, participating in 23 rounds and investing more than $600 million, according to Blockdata.
But while many of the top 100 companies may be buying into blockchain technology, their stance towards one of the technology’s most high-profile use cases – cryptocurrencies – is more neutral. Only 32 companies can be considered to have a positive position on the cryptocurrency.
“Notably, some of these 32 positive companies are financial institutions that have historically been negative towards cryptocurrency, but are gradually changing their minds based on customer demand,” according to Blockdata’s report.
“Blockchain technology is maturing at an increasing rate. Many people are working to ensure that the core infrastructure, the underlying data utility, is updated. What we’re seeing is the next upgrade in terms of data networks,” Knegtel said. “Blockchain is here to stay.”
Timmy Shen contributed reporting.