The 7 biggest Blockchain technology trends that will shape the next decade

Blockchain is mainstream now and enabling businesses to create highly-efficient processes and new financial models. 

According to Statista, “Spending on blockchain solutions will continue to grow in the coming years, reaching almost 19 billion U.S. dollars by 2024.” The new technological advancements are also likely to strengthen the capabilities of the blockchain and increase its adoption across industries in the coming years. 

Below, we take an introductory look at the 7 key blockchain trends that are likely to shape the next decade and empower businesses to accelerate efficiency, build trust, and eliminate friction. 

7 key trends that will define the Blockchain of tomorrow

1. Blockchain as a Service (BaaS)

Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) ranks high in the list of blockchain trends and future. BaaS allows businesses to access cloud-based services and solutions to build, deploy, and use their Blockchain applications. In many ways, it’s similar to the popular cloud computing models such as SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS. 

With BaaS solutions,  businesses of all sizes can harness the power of the distributed ledger technology to automate, scale, and secure their business processes since they do not have to invest high up-front capital in building and managing the infrastructure with high-end security solutions. 

2. Rise of NFT 

For the uninitiated, NFTs stand for non-fungible tokens. And since they are non-fungible, each NFT is distinct in value. As per Merriam Webster, “an NFT is a unique digital identifier that cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided, recorded in a blockchain, and used to certify authenticity and ownership (as of a specific digital asset and specific rights relating to it).”

NFTs saw a dramatic spike in interest in 2020, but their popularity grew even further in 2021.

Read more about NFTs here. 

3. Stablecoins are gaining traction 

Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies but with a difference. So, unlike bitcoins and Ethereum and thousands of other cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, as the term suggests, are way more stable than other popular classes of cryptocurrencies. 

Stablecoins are already gaining a lot of traction with the investors’ communities because they provide the best of both worlds: the unparalleled safety and security of transactions that entail blockchain and cryptocurrencies and the volatility-free valuations one often gets in fiat currencies. So, we expect the adoption rate of stablecoins to go upwards in the coming years. However, one should also note that regulators do have their eyes on the stablecoins, given the size of their $130 billion market and potential impact on the broader financial system.

4. Blockchain for Government  

Government agencies across countries are already using blockchain and associated tools and technologies to build a deeper level of trust and transparency with businesses and citizens. And as we see it, its usage across different government agencies will only grow in the future.  

One of the chief reasons behind the increased adoption of the distributed ledger technology in the government agencies is the ease with which it solves legacy pain points, and goes on to provide the following advantages:

• A new-found trust and transparency in the systems 
• Government, citizen, and business data is far more safe and secure
• Automation of numerous redundant processes  
• Significant reduction in the costs associated with managing accountability
• Significant reduction in the potential for corruption and abuse

5. Blockchain in Retail 

The covid-19 pandemic brought a new set of challenges to the global retail industry. From the big names to the small-town businesses, retail players everywhere struggled with keeping their products on shelves, stores open, supply chains moving, and employees and customers safe.
 
As the retail industry is moving towards reopening, it must find ways to deal with the new normal. And as we see it, blockchain can help it massively. The industry is likely to design, develop, and use more blockchain solutions to streamline and drive sales with blockchain tracking, improve food safety with a transparent supply chain, improve retailer-supplier relationships, and strengthen customers’ trust in the retailers. Some of the leading global brands already making great use of the transformative capabilities of blockchain include names like Home Depot, Nestle, and Walmart. 

6. Environment-friendly Blockchain   
 
There are some aspects of blockchain that are not about innovation, sustainability, reliability, and security; instead, those aspects are about the negative impact blockchain technology exerts on the world. So, the major problem with blockchain is that it consumes a lot of energy and creates very high levels of carbon emissions. For these same reasons, Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, decided to not accept Bitcoin as payment for his cars. 

However, creators and innovators are accelerating their efforts to reduce blockchain's energy consumption and carbon emissions. And this is one of the prominent future trends of blockchain technology. One significant way this can be achieved is by shifting to more energy-efficient models such as those that rely more on ‘proof-of-stake’ rather than ‘proof-of-work’ to generate consensus. Ethereum, in its bid to promote energy efficiency, soon plans to shift to a POS model. So, we can see many more platforms and companies adopting the same route or finding new ways to eliminate energy wastage often associated with blockchain. 

7. Blockchain and IoT integration

One may frown at the idea of Blockchain and IoT working together. Still, as we see it, the possibilities are endless in this space. To begin with, Internet of Things (IoT) companies can utilize the blockchain to record the sea of interactions and transactions between things or machines. The distributed ledger technology can even help the IoT players deal with many other issues, primarily related to security and scalability since blockchain is known for its automation, encryption, and immutability. Therefore, this is also a key Blockchain future trend that’s likely to take the shared and immutable ledger technology to the next level. 

Wrapping up

Blockchain technology is great and all, but at Kellton, we aim to build the solutions that our clients actually need. That’s why we follow a technology-agnostic approach to solve the biggest business challenges of our clients. 

We want our clients to meet their business goals. And if blockchain solutions can help them innovate and stay ahead of the curve, we’ll use them. If not, we’ll recommend and develop another solution that better meets their business needs. 

Thinking about leveraging blockchain to empower your business? Send us a message at ask@kelltontech.com or call us:

North America: +1.844.469.8900 | Asia: +91.124.469.8900 | Europe: +353.76.604.2716 .

Together, let’s figure out the right opportunities for you.