TL;DR: Blockchain not Bitcoin is the mantra of Wall Street types who dared to venture into the cryptocurrency ecosystem, distancing themselves as far as possible from the currency aspects. Recently, Reuters revealed more than two dozen such projects show almost no progress, while CB Insights insists blockchain investments are heading toward a drop of greater than half this year.

Blockchain Not Bitcoin Slows on All Fronts

Anna Irrera and John McCrank of Reuters explained how “a review of 33 projects involving large companies announced over the past four years and interviews with more than a dozen executives involved with them show the technology has yet to deliver on its promise,” referring to blockchain or distributed ledger technology.

More than a third are with major tech firms, banks, and exchanges still not out of testing, and those “that have made it past that stage are yet to see extensive usage,” they continued, citing regulation barriers being a root cause, as told to them by key executives — Facebook Coin is only going to harden government focus, they insist.

Companies just a few years ago were making grandiose announcements about their pivot toward blockchain innovation, but reality has proved cruel “because while it worked in testing, the cost to fully adopt it outweighed the benefits,” Reuters stressed, insisting they were told blockchain was little more than “is a shiny mirage” by at least one jilted corporate insider.

A spokesman for UBS AG told the authors, “It could take three-to-seven years before major projects have significant impact,” and pointed to its Utility Settlement Coin as perhaps coming online in 2020 after planning for half of a decade.

Such collective unease is a far cry from only last year, where “capital markets and banking sectors allocated $1.7 billion on blockchain initiatives, up 70% from 2016,” they maintain, citing Greenwich Associates. Even with the investment slowdown, some analysts still expect blockchain investment to be more than $12 billion by 2022, … as IBM and others try to hold onto lavish promises, which included employing the tech to somehow reduce global poverty. Time will tell.

DISCLOSURE: The author holds cryptocurrency as part of his financial portfolio, including BCH.

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