2020 is almost at its end. Although it has been a very tough year for many people worldwide, some sectors have done increasingly well despite it. One of these areas to be specific is blockchain and cryptocurrency. As the year started, not many had hoped for most crypto, and neither did they realize a cryptocurrency such as BTC (Bitcoin) could surpass the $20,000 mark. This article will focus on trends that will shape 2021 and what it could mean for blockchain technology altogether.
Exponential Growth in Market Size
There are a lot of big expectations for blockchain this coming year. Due to the disruption caused by COVID-19, many businesses showed real interest in adopting the technology to increase efficiency. As big companies continue showing favor to blockchain technology, more of the world is adopting Bitcoin. For instance, P2P payment system PayPal and MasterCard are slowly adopting the technology. Through this, it has become more accessible to people, which is fantastic.
Covid-19 Continues To Boost Blockchain
COVID-19 is doing a lot of damage to the economies of various nations in the world. To curb the spread of the disease, many governments worldwide have encouraged their citizens to use electronic funds to pay for goods and services. Although this means less money in circulation, it has shone a spotlight on crypto, which you can use to pay for anything you need. As the directive stays in place, more businesses are likely to accept Bitcoin and other altcoins as payment means. Additionally, the distributed ledger technology is helping out with solving some of that.
Long-Term Strategic Projects
Because of the uncertainty and volatility brought about by the Coronavirus pandemic, most corporates are doing a systematic pull back from some of their long term blockchain projects. Those that require several changes to the existing market structures or regulatory changes will have to go on ice for the time being. One of the biggest reasons for this is that corporates are looking to be prudent with their budgets to still maintain their business even during a pandemic such as this. Additionally, until the future is a bit brighter, companies will be very cautious with their experimental R&D projects’ budgets.
Corporates and Digital Transformation
The pandemic is one of the critical wake-up calls to corporates who are still dragging their feet when it comes to their company’s digital transformation. To thrive in this new business environment, you need to ensure that your business can go all the way digital without affecting most of your work. Blockchain technology has been quite the game-changer. Because of the decentralized nature of that system, it follows that corporates would want to create something similar to ensure their systems remain running even when a node of two is compromised.
Projects That Will Make It into Production
2021 is shaping up to be a big blockchain year! According to Gartner statistics, more than 40% of businesses have at least one blockchain-based project running on a pilot basis. This means that about 30% of these global projects are going to the production phase over the coming year should the pilots be successful. As these projects grow, so will the adoption of more altcoins that should positively impact their values.
DeFi
Decentralized finance (DeFi) made waves in 2020, and if the projections stay constant, it’s going to have an even bigger year in 2021. DeFi is one of the new niche blockchain trends everyone wants in on. As more companies dip their toes into this space, we expect to see more DeFi projects being released and more corporates joining in on the fun. From a mere $3B in assets under management, this sector has grown impressively past the $12 billion mark!
