10 Predictions from Tech Experts on the Future of Blockchain

Bitcoin is now a thing of past, Blockchain is the future. Blockchain is a distributed ledger technology that is used by all types of cryptocurrencies. In simple words, this whole tech is a transaction ledger maintaining duplicate copies of each transaction on every computer within a network.

However, many believe that blockchain is just a part of the natural “boom and bust” cycle and it might survive or just fade away in the years ahead. On the other hand, experts and members of Forbes Technology Council (an invitation-only, fee-based organization comprised of elite CIOs, CTOs and technology executives) has mixed opinion and predicted the future of blockchain in the coming years in their own words –

Extensively Spread Data Models

Billy Bosworth from DataStax predicted that – Blockchain has highlighted a critical aspect of the way data is going to work in the coming decades, and that is a world where data will be ever increasingly distributed. Any solutions for next-generation data problems must come to grips with this fact, and plan for a day where critical data is distributed among many geographies and even across on-premise and cloud data centers.

DLT-Based Government Systems

Rohan Pinto from 1Kosmos BlockID said that – The distributed ledger technology (DLT) is here to stay. Dubai has vowed to replace all government systems with DLT-based digital structures by 2020, which indicates that DLT will just grow over time. While the transition from a paper-based system to digital has been underway for a long time, DLT provides the underlying trust, immutability and transparency that such systems desperately need.

Regularization and Collaboration

ThiruSivasubramanian of SE2, LLC emphasized that – One of the areas of advancement in blockchain will be the regularization of interoperability among the different blockchains. While it is inevitable that there will be several blockchains with a specific business purpose, true benefits for the consumer or enterprise will be realized when they are able to “collaborate” in an open standard.

A Growing Need For Credible Crypto Backing

Claus Jepsen of Unit4 said – Money, regardless of whether it is physical or digital, needs credible backing. When there are no trusted parties handling the transactions, then a distributed ledger becomes key, like blockchain. However, if a cryptocurrency is an official currency, then there are already technologies in place to ensure transactional integrity and prohibit tampering with transactional data.

A Potential Ecosystem of Specialized Chains

Florian Quarre from Ciox Health predicted that – Defunct cryptocurrencies have created a significant amount of “public technical debt”, and their smart-contracts might still get triggered. As we calibrate and confirm industry-grade blockchain use cases – healthcare information exchange and crypto claims settlement, for example – we will likely end up with an ecosystem of specialized chains, operating security and utility chains in parallel.

Ultimate Transparency Across Industries

Antonio Altamirano at Tangelo Technologies revealed that – Blockchain’s structure is built as a distributed ledger that ensures complete privacy and control of all data to all users. Any changes to the blockchain are always completely transparent and accessible to the public. The use of a single publicly available digital ledger makes it easy to spot hacking attempts, while also reducing the messiness associated with systems containing multiple ledgers.

Autonomous Negotiation and Trade

Bruno Guicardi of CI&T believes that – Blockchain technology is actively progressing. After the foundations for distributed consensus and exchange of value, we already see the early steps towards secure distributed data and common standards, aiming at distributed autonomous applications in a few years. This opens the opportunity for autonomous negotiation and trade among applications that can make markets more efficient.

Blockchain-Based Security Measures

Chalmers Brown from Due anticipated – I see more focus being placed on the powerful potential of blockchain for financial and non-financial applications. More investment is being put toward building out tools and platforms built on blockchain for identity verification, other security measures, contracts, payments and more.

Cryptocurrency is Just Going Through Normal Product Cycle

Vikram Joshi at pulsd said – Inflation and deflation of a bubble do not mean that an industry is not worthy. People get super excited only because they see huge potential in a product or service. In this inflation-deflation cycle, we should not be surprised to see some dead potatoes. Cryptocurrency and blockchain have immense potential and we shall see it in coming years. It just takes time, as all the good things in life do.

Continued Maturity and Strength of Blockchain

Allison Clift-Jennings from Filament said – As the blockchain technology that supports not only crypto currency but also many other business applications, matures, we are already seeing the real value emerge. The impact of distributed ledger technology may be greater than any of us realize – it has the potential to change economics, business and society, and we are just beginning to scratch the surface of what is possible.

(Source:www.forbes.com)