A lot of focus has been placed on what the world of crypto did do in 2017, and this is for good reason. Without a shadow of a doubt, last year was absolutely huge for both blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies themselves. This does not mean that it achieved everything that it set out to do, and in order to improve the market, and help these fields develop, it is important to remember what it failed to deliver on. 1) We did not see mass adoption of blockchain The past year has definitely not been short of talk about blockchain patents, from big name companies – Mastercard being one – along with a surge in sign-ups to the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance. But this did not whole heartedly take off. The cause of this has been pointed to several different things. Financial and technology and education have all been contributors to this. The good thing about this though is that the more informed decision-makers in large corporations become, the more they realise how much the blockchain world challenges the very core of current systems and paradigms. It could change in 2018, should the wave of token sales slow, which it needs to if cryptocurrencies are going to stay around for the long haul. 2) There was no clear distinction between blockchain, tokens and cryptocurrencies. To the unknown, there is no distinction between blockchain, Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, and the huge ICO numbers that we saw in 2017, only reinforced this associations. The trouble with this assumption, is that it automatically reduces crypto as just a new way to make money through a lot of speculation. In order for blockchain technology to reach its full potential, it is imperative that distinctions are not only made but explained thoroughly. 3) We have not seen self-regulation take holdRegulation has been a strong topic of conversation within the crypto world in 2017. Numerous self-regulation initiatives have been formed with the Crypto Valley Association, announcing a Code of Conduct and Waves setting up a foundation for ICO standards, among others. These initiatives haven’t actually produced much yet, and the Code of Conduct is still unpublished. It is hopeful that 2018 will bring more visible results on this front, before scam projects over-multiply and influential advisors over-abuse their positions to artificially pump projects of little or no value, which will compel governmental regulators to take over in full force. 4) We do not have inter-chain operability In a more technical note, inter-chain operability has remained an elusive holy grail, although 2017 did see some serious efforts to tackle it. It might have been unrealistic to expect inter-chain connections to come along so soon, but thanks to the numerous attempts that were made in 2017, there is confidence that 2018 will be the year for it.