Blockchain investment continues to surge as new, practical business applications gain traction and business leaders begin to see beyond the "hype cycle," according to Deloitte's "2019 Global Blockchain Survey.” While blockchain implementation continues to increase across financial services, its transformational importance is gaining momentum across multiple sectors, including technology, life sciences, media, telecommunications and government. The survey reveals that executives see blockchain as a more mature solution, while they're taking pragmatic approaches toward investments and adoption.

Eighty-three percent of the 2019 blockchain-savvy survey respondents cite that their organizations see compelling use cases for blockchain, and more than half (53 percent) reported that blockchain technology has become a critical priority for their organization this year — a 10 percentage point increase over last year. This momentum is translating into action, with 40 percent reporting that they are willing to invest USD 5 million or more in new blockchain initiatives over the next 12 months.

More organizations across a wider variety of sectors are expanding and diversifying their blockchain initiatives. This is occurring even as uncertainty remains about having the talent, strategic vision and experience to adopt blockchain solutions and fully realize the technology's benefits. Overall, survey respondents pointed to more diverse advantages than in 2018.

"The tone and terms of the debates around blockchain are shifting, according to this year's study, incorporating more use cases and strategic visions of the future," said Linda Pawczuk, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP and U.S. blockchain leader. "As the blockchain story continues to mature and begins a new chapter, we believe the question for executives is no longer 'Will the technology work?' but, 'How can we make this technology work for us?'"

Emerging disruptors overwhelmingly cite business models and value chains (42 percent) as the most significant advantage of blockchain, whereas enterprise respondents were equally split between security/lower risk and business models/value chains (23 percent for both). In fact, 71 percent of enterprise organizations believe that blockchain provides greater security than conventional information technology solutions, while only 48 percent of emerging disruptors feel the same.