Blockchain technology is growing at a gallop. And it rides mainly on three sectors: finance, public administration and the media. Opening the doors to new scenarios for the future. In 2021, globally they were 370 Blockchain initiatives and Distributed Ledger developed by companies and public administrations, 39% more than in 2020. The most active sectors are the financial sector with 38% of projects and the Public Administration with 16%, followed by the Media with 7% and l 'Agrifood with 6%.
In this context, the Italian market is still in the waiting phase, with 28 million investments, despite more and more consumers using Blockchain applications. These are the main results of the research conducted by the Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Observatory of School of Management of the Milan Polytechnic, presented on Friday during the conference entitled "Blockchain: the road to the next web revolution".
“The Blockchain world continues to attract the interest of institutions, companies and the media – he says Valeria Portale, director of the Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Observatory -. Cryptocurrencies are now also widespread among traditional players in the financial and payments world, who are considering integrating them into the offer as a form of investment as well. The NFTs have exploded, and will soon be able to be exploited also in the "metaverse". More and more companies are approaching the 'tokenized economy', in which products, financial and digital assets will be traded in the form of tokens. And many are launching projects based on DLT platforms and smart contracts. In this scenario, the Blockchain is establishing itself as the technology that will drive the new evolution of the Internet, the Web3”.
THE NEW WEB
Blockchain apps are rapidly evolving in many directions, but they all share a drive towards a new version of the web, the report explains. In fact, the Blockchain is at the basis of the "next web revolution": the Web3, a sort of "decentralized" Internet that could be the natural evolution of the current "centralized" Web dominated by big tech. "In the world of the Decentralized web, the Blockchain allows for the creation of the infrastructure that enables new independent business solutions, often based on decentralized applications (the so-called DApps) or Nfts, unique tokens that represent digital private property", reads the study that underlines how, internationally, the implementation projects developed in this area are still few (only 71, 10% of the total), but the growth of 382% in one year suggests what awaits us.
THE ITALIAN MARKET
In Italy, explains the Observatory of the Milan Polytechnic "We still do not see a decisive growth in the adoption of Blockchain technologies". In 2021, 28 million euros were invested in this technology, 50% of which in the financial and insurance fields. Followed by the public administration (15%), with strong growth also thanks to the development of the Italian Blockchain Service Infrastructure, the agri-food sector (stable at 11%) and utilities (10%) which, after numerous experiments in recent years, have seen a marked increase. It should also be noted that, to date, pilot projects or projects relating to the evolution of those already in production are being developed in our country: only 13% of investments concern Proofs of Concept or training activities.
In this context, however, while companies wait, consumers are increasingly oriented towards the use of Blockchain applications, cryptocurrencies in particular: as many as 12% of Italians have already purchased Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, 17% are interested in doing so in future, while 58% know them but are not interested in owning them and only 13% do not know them at all.
THREE FIELDS OF APPLICATION
One of the main areas of application of the Blockchain is undoubtedly the "Internet of Value", on which a total of 180 projects have been surveyed, a number that shows an 85% growth compared to 2020. 2021 "was a year of maturation for cryptocurrencies, with huge investments by companies such as Tesla or Microstrategy, the arrival of Coinbase on the stock market, the attention of institutions and large companies on stablecoins and CBDCs”, underlines the report.
A second area of application is that of projects where traditional business processes are replicated using Blockchain technologies. Internationally, there are around 500 projects (67% of the total surveyed since 2016) and in 2021 they recorded a drop of 19%.
To complete the picture there are 71 Decentralized web projects developed internationally, 9% of the total of those surveyed, including decentralized applications (DApps) and NFTs.
“The most interesting ecosystem of decentralized applications continues to be that of DeFi (Decentralized Finance), developed on permissionless platforms for the offer of financial services and products: the total value invested in these applications has exceeded 250 billion dollars in 2021 (+1.250% compared to the beginning of the year), due to the increase in the value of cryptocurrencies and tokens, of invested capital and of the users involved", says the study which then highlights the importance of NFTs in the world of collectibles ), exploded in various sectors from the world of art to that of football. "However, the relevance of NFTs goes far beyond the prices at which some of these digital objects were sold - explains Francesco Bruschi - and also concerns the business world and public administrations, in which they could allow the development of new business solutions"
