The Hanseatic Blockchain Institute published a complete study on blockchain as a technology in the German economy. The Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Protection has financed research and, therefore, has a point of view focused on policies.
The study gives a complete overview of the current level of adoption, opportunities and advantages and obstacles that make adoption difficult. However, it has a major blindness, which stems from the fact that companies that do not use blockchain or that plan or discuss its use were not questioned in more detail, therefore the study mainly captures the perspective of supporters and players in blockchain technology, as the study organizers say it themselves. Thus, the study lacks the key ideas of unsuccessful attempts or discussions that do not implement the blockchain.
Economic investigation
The study stipulates that the majority of German companies do not consider the relevant blockchain. The representative part of the 2024 survey reveals that only 3.2% of the German economy will use blockchain in one form or another, 3.7% plan to use it, and 18.7% have at least discussed it. Technology is used much less than comparable emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), which is deployed by 27%, or Cloud Computing, used by 46.5% of companies.
The study notes that the blockchain slowly gains ground in Germany, the vast majority of its states saying that it is “not a problem” for them. At the same time, the percentage of local businesses that share the same feelings in 2023 rose slightly from 72.6% to 74.4%. Unfortunately, the study does not dive more deep into this area.
How is the blockchain used: potential and challenge
The next part of the study is a quantitative expert survey that asked 204 experts how they use blockchain in their companies. These come most frequently from the IT and telecommunications industry (31%), the financial services sector (21%) and 15%of the consultation. The other areas are the media and entertainment (6%), education (5%), the arts and culture 4%and marketing and sales. Other industries have only reached 1% or is not represented.
Respondents also declared in which area they use blockchain, 54%financial services, digital identities (31%) and marketing (28%) being the most frequently mentioned areas.
The respondents gave their opinion on the potential they see in the blockchain. The highest results were promoting innovation (84%), information security (82%), confidence in cooperation with other organizations (81%), security in transaction processes (78%) and product improvement (66%).
The biggest challenges were regulations (36%), poor user experience (33%), the lack of skilled workers (32%) and critical reports (31%).
What technologies are used
With an overview of the technologies used, the study becomes a little more concrete and highlights the way bitcoin, intelligent contracts, non -making tokens (NFT) and tokenization are used and for what reasons.
BTC
BTC is used by 32% of the companies questioned, mainly in the financial sector, where 50% of respondents use it. The main use case is self-investment (57%), followed by means of payment for customers (49%), trading (41%), the means of payment to contractual partners (41%), lightning for payment (32%), pseudo-anonymous transactions (16%) and mining (5%).
This may seem very positive for a maximum BTC, but the base N for the types of use is only 37. This means that only a small fraction of the minority in the German economy uses the BTC, although the word “use” should also be quoted. Most companies use it as an investment, and the simple offer as a means of payment says nothing about the amount of BTC actually used by customers, contractual partners, etc. Real innovation comes from other technologies anyway.
Smart contracts
The most commonly used Blockchain technology is smart contracts that 94% of companies use. In the IT / telecommunications sector, the figure is 98% and in financial services, it is 86%.
NFT (61%), tokenization (56%) and rollers (optimistic, zero knowledge) (27%) are the most common areas of application.
The reasons for using intelligent contracts are new areas of activity (59%), increased efficiency of 57%, independence compared to intermediaries (53%), an improvement in data integrity (50%) and process optimization (44%).
It is interesting to note that the NFT and the tokenization are mentioned twice, because the two technologies are again referenced below as independent technologies, which push the fact that with ZK and optimistic rollers, which work as alternatives of scale on certain blocks. Second layer solutions dominate the use of smart contracts. This, in turn, means that the blockchains are used which are simply not on a scale.
NFT and tokenization
The main areas of application of NFTs are marketing (64%), certification (56%) and the art market (45%), the advantages being highlighted as proof of property (91%), a link to digital content (83%) and digital access (71%).
With regard to tokenization, the main areas of application are obligations (46%), collectibles (39%) and real estate (33%), followed by CO₂ certificates (23%), the advantages being observed in rapid treatment (85%), transparency and traceability (82%) and access to institutional investors (74%).
Although NFT and tokenization are certainly future technologies, it is well known that many current areas of application are nothing more than gadgets or short -term trends, as shown in the art market or collectibles. The true value of these technologies only becomes clear when scaling is reached, that popular blockchains have not yet reached.
Public without authorization, authorized public, private authorized
Blockchains without public authorization are mainly used in the financial sector (76%), for digital identities (70%), and for copyright management and license (63%), transparency (76%), decentralization (77%) and immutability (68%) being considered key advantages. Confidence (61%), opening (61%) and inclusiveness (43%) also play an important role.
Blockchains authorized by the public are used mainly in the management of the supply chain (56%) of 49%, governance (60%), access control (58%) and legal regulations (34%) being cited as the main reasons for their use.
Authorized private blockchains are used by 34%, in particular because of their advantages in terms of confidentiality (59%), data protection (56%) and compliance (47%). The reasons for transaction speed (29%) and scalability (26%) also appear here to a lesser extent.
The section on blockchain networks probably illustrates more than any other part of the study that blockchain technology is still in its infancy. However, the presence of numerous blockchains indicates that many participants are actively looking for alternative solutions to the problems that Bitcoin in its original version has already resolved.
Conclusion
The study offers a complete overview of the status of Blockchain technology among its supporters and participants. However, important information from criticism, attempted and missed implementations is missing.
This is particularly critical because the study always provides recommendations to decision -makers (requests such as subsidies, regulations and creation of consortia and forums). The study examines what politics can do for blockchain, not the other way around, in particular what blockchain can offer to society, including businesses, institutions, citizens and customers.
It is assumed that obstacles are external factors, such as regulations, negative press and the lack of skilled workers. However, problems such as escape from regulations, poor scalability and uncertainty of layer 2 solutions are problems inherent in blockchains, which are not only unattractive for many companies, but which they simply reject.
The study expresses a clear enthusiasm for blockchain technology but presents a biased and too positive perspective. However, there is a lack of self-reflection here, because the study makes action recommendations for the grant, regulations and creation of knowledge exchange platforms, for example. Consequently, the study is looking for means of supporting blockchain. However, he does not manage to look critically how the blockchain itself must be structured in order to offer real value to the economy and to society.
The study also lacks a clear distinction between digital currencies such as BTC and corporate blockchains. Although some tokens support the regulations, digital currencies often escape legislation. A study intended for decision -makers should first identify blockchains that do not comply with regulatory standards, scalability problems, changes in the protocol and which offer real utility.
This speech was discussed in the BSV community and led to the creation of Teranode, Arc, Liteclient (Svolubability), Digital Asset Recovery (regulation) and the rules of access to the network (installation protocol), which make the BSV blockchain the main business blockchain.
Watch: Is your business ready to get on the wave of blockchain adoption?
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