Blockchain technology is gaining a lot of attention at the moment due to the involvement of major companies around the world, a PwC survey shows.

According to the new PwC study, 84 percent of the 600 executives in 15 territories have confirmed that their company was, in one way or the other, actively involved in blockchain technology.

The report notes that:

“Everyone is talking about blockchain, and no one wants to be left behind.”

The researchers state that blockchain’s advantages are the sole reason there is such a high number of companies getting involved with the technology. For many, blockchain is has found its best use in cryptocurrencies, the most popular being bitcoin.

A blockchain keeps a record of all transactions to ever take place on a public, distributed, and immutable ledger without the need to involve intermediaries. It has offered many advantages, including reducing the costs of transactions, being faster, and improving the security of transactions.

It also offers businesses greater transparency, a factor that has seen blockchain applications in virtually every sector of the world’s economy. Right now the technology is used in financial services, health, science, and agriculture and many others.

Blockchain technology is set to generate over $3 trillion in annual business value by 2030. By then, blockchain-based systems will constitute between 10% and 20% of the world’s economic infrastructure.

86 percent of respondents have started implementing/leveraging distributed ledger tech

Among the companies that indicated some involvement with blockchain, 20 percent said they were at the research stage.

32 percent of the companies were in the development stage of implementation, while 10 percent had reached the pilot stage. 15 percent had live blockchain projects.

The survey also looked into the industries that were at the forefront of developing blockchain projects today. Projects in the financial services sector lead with 46 percent, while the industrial and manufacturing sector follows with 12 percent.

Energy, healthcare, and governments account for 12 percent, 11 percent, and 8 percent respectively.

Barriers to blockchain adoption

The PwC report also details what it calls barriers to the adoption of blockchain technology. According to the respondents, regulatory uncertainty ranked highest with 48 percent.

A relatively high number of the executives (45 percent) also pointed out that the lack of “trust” among users hindered efforts towards blockchain adoption.

The report, however, points states that most of the mistrust about blockchain arises from the lack of understanding on what the technology is all about. Many of the executives in the survey admitted to being inadequately informed about blockchain.

There is also the challenge posed by a lack of standardization and interoperability among blockchains. Nearly 31 percent of respondents thought this was a big problem, adding to the many doubts about its reliability, scalability, and security.

“It is perhaps ironic that a technology meant to bring consensus hits a stumbling block on the early need to design rules and standards.”

Future of blockchain

Cryptocurrency has received some of the harshest criticism from prominent business minds around the world, including Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, and Jamie Dimon. However, these personalities have all expressed optimism about the future of blockchain technology.

The acceptance of its value comes out clearly when tech giants like IBM, Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft indicate that they are exploring ways of applying blockchain in their businesses.

And recently, we have seen brands like JP Morgan, Accenture, Deloitte, and HSBC express similar sentiments about the technology.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is among the latest people with influence to state that blockchain had a future. He compared it to the internet when it started, fascinated at its widespread use.

The report also shows that the U.S currently leads China when it comes to blockchain innovation. However, that trend will reverse by 2023 when China will become the most influential country in the space.