The results are in! Responses to Orrick’s first survey of the dedicated followers of On the Chain, our blockchain blog, revealed at least two things: (1) that blockchain technology is continuing to gain acceptance in and figure into plans of businesses across numerous industries, and (2) that during the holiday season people will take the time to respond to a survey if there is a prospect of receiving an Amazon gift card. Message received.

The 60+ survey responses came largely from senior personnel in a broad range of industries and regions, mostly working in technology, media, telecommunications, professional services, fintech and financial services, and mostly located in North America, Asia and Europe. Overall, almost all responders considered themselves moderately or very familiar with blockchain technology, which is not surprising given the nature of the blog’s steadily increasing readership. It is also not surprising, since one-third of the responders stated they work for companies that currently employ blockchain technology, including smart contracts. These uses include: payment processing and investments; buying, selling and exchanging digital currencies; data management and storage; maintaining data privacy; and gaming. For those companies not currently employing blockchain technology, about a third view it as a high priority or important to the organization; and about one-half of those view it as relevant to the company’s strategy but not a priority.

The overwhelming majority of responders believe that blockchain will achieve mainstream adoption in the next five years. This matches the observation of Orrick’s Blockchain Group, whose members from week to week seem to be working on or learning about a new or expanded application of blockchain technology in an existing industry. The greatest advantage to the adoption of blockchain technology, according to responders, is improved business efficiencies, while reduction of costs is viewed as a lesser benefit. The most significant barriers to mainstream adoption of blockchain technology are considered to be technological challenges to implementation, regulatory issues and the uncertain financial return on the investment. We received fewer responses that security threats, failure of companies to treat it as a priority, and unproven technology are barriers to adoption.

In sum, the survey results provide a snapshot – albeit unscientific – of how companies view blockchain technology at this point in time, and where they think it is going. 

Thanks again to all our survey respondents for taking the time to provide such useful information, and congratulations to our lucky prizewinner!