5 Predictions for Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies In 2019

• Toshendra Kumar Sharma
• January 15, 2019

The sentiments around Blockchain seems to be gripping the world strongly, especially the startups and some of the big names in the industry have show inclination towards this technology. Well, the revolution of digital currency that started off in 2009 continues to grow and take the world in its grip. We have seen many transformations in the healthcare, supply chain and most importantly the financial sector. Despite its huge potential, Blockchain has suffered the wrath of criticism from many.

There are two sides when it comes to Blockchain, one which is focussing on the growth and application of Blockchain, while there is another side which sees Blockchain as a bubble that is not going to last for long. This has led to a series of predictions around this technology. 2018 was all about Blockchain and its application development, the question arises, will this growth continue in 2019 as well? In this blog, we bring you 5 predictions for Blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

What is Blockchain?

Before heading to the predictions, let us take a quick recap of what this technology and what are the underpinnings of the same which makes it such an inevitable technology of the future.  The Blockchain is the distributed ledger technology which stores the information or data exchange in chronological order. Time-stamping of the same makes it very easy to track and trace the data. Cryptocurrencies were again a revolutionary thing of 2018. It became popular and led to the surge of ICOs and tokenization, paving the way for a complexly digitally functional system.

Provenance, immutability, decentralization, and transparency are the underpinnings of Blockchain. It is because of these features of Blockchain that we see it finding application in most of the business vertical. As far as the current scenario is concerned, the use of conventional technology is not very efficient. In fact, it has raised issues like data security, centralized data storage, in-efficient data tracking and other problems that plague the current system. Blockchain will help in overcoming all these problems by leveraging a platform with decentralization as a key feature and will have the information distributed in the entire network.

With all this and much more stored in it, Blockchain holds a lot of prospects for the future. Let us see what will 2019 bring for Blockchain.

5 predictions for Blockchain in 2019:

• Crypto Exchanges Trading: ICOs became a popular way for investors of a big and small budget to take a plunge in the pool of cryptocurrencies. In 2018 we saw a significant number of people making turning towards ICO and this trend will continue in 2019 as well. It can be deciphered from the fact that Bitcoin which started off at $10,387.90 in Feb 2018 rose to $29,533.33 in December 31st, 2018. This huge growth of more than 100 % shows how strongly the cryptocurrency is growing and picking up the pace.

 

• Government agencies will make Blockchain an integral part of their functioning – In 2018, we heard about many big names of the industry like Wallmart, Amazon, IBM, Microsoft, Apple etc. turning their heads towards Blockchain technology. Well, the impact of this technology is not merely restricted to industries, in fact, government and intelligence agencies will also be making use of this technology. The government agencies can use Blockchain platform to create a pool of data that can be accessed by designated and authorized authorities at any time and without worrying about information getting leaked. An example of this is Estonia which has already worked on it. X-Road is a decentralized ledger which stores all the details and credentials of its citizens.

 

• It will lead to the surge of new job opportunities – With many companies creating a separate division of Blockchain, there is going to be a great demand for Blockchain professionals, and that will lead to the rise of job opportunities. Companies like Facebook has already created a team of Blockchain professionals that will be exploring how Blockchain can be useful for Facebook. Apart from this, there are many startups which are working towards exploring the use of Blockchain and developing Blockchain based applications. This will again lead to the rise in the demand of Blockchain professionals.

 

• Blockchain will work in integration with IoT – As per the reports of IDC Blockchain will work in sync with IoT. Many of us compare Blockchain with the internet, though, it is as revolutionary as the internet, but when it comes to functionality, then Blockchain is not a separate entity, in fact, it runs on the internet. As per IDC, around 20% of IoT and machine learning will integrate with Blockchain technology into their products by 2019. Blockchain resistance to cyber attacks and data security that it offers makes the IoT companies think about integrating Blockchain in its products.

 

• Banking sector transformation – Did you know that around 69% of the banking and financial institutions are working towards exploring Blockchain application to ensure a seamless transaction. This trend will continue to grow in 2019 as well.

 

Conclusion – 2019 has just kicked off, and the positivity that surrounds Blockchain will continue this year as well. Nations like China have focussed on promoting the startups that are working in promoting Blockchain and developing its application.