Study Shows That Complex Regulation Is the Major Hindrance To Blockchain Adoption

Blockchain Technology

A blockchain-related study conducted at EY has revealed that the complexity in regulatory policies is one of the biggest challenges facing the adoption of enterprise blockchains. Participants in the study were senior finance and technology professionals at EY’s Global Blockchain Summit held in New York this April.

Majority of the survey respondents (61 percent) said that complex regulation is the number one barrier to widespread blockchain adoption. Other stumbling blocks identified are integration with legacy technology (51%) and lack of proper blockchain education (49%). When asked what the main advantage of blockchain is, respondents pointed to increased operational efficiency followed by transparency and data integrity.

Analyzing the results from the survey, Paul Brody, EY’s Global Innovation Leader, Blockchain Technology said:

“As blockchain platforms become more mainstream, putting a robust governance model in place will be key. This coupled with establishing best practices for reviewing the integrity of cryptocurrencies and their applications can help build trust in the company’s underlying assets, ensuring stakeholder voices are heard and ultimately instilling greater investor confidence.”

Furthermore, he identified four stages of blockchain maturity. These according to him are;

  1. Transitioning from private to public networks to create an open system for all users;
  2. Shifting from synchronization to tokenization to improve accuracy and reduce risk;
  3. Moving from cryptocurrency to tokenized fiat currency to transfer value on public networks;
  4. Shifting from parallel separate systems to integration with laws and regulation from central banks and governments

Poll respondents indicated that changes made to blockchain regulations were key to broader enterprise integration. Adoption of digital currencies by top companies (23%) and acceptance of the technology among central banks (18%) play key roles too according to the study.

EY—short for Ernst & Young—have made strides in blockchain innovation. In April the company announced a pilot for blockchain audit technology. It developed a Blockchain Analyzer that will help to perform in-depth reviews of cryptocurrency business transactions. The pilot would lay the foundation for testing of blockchain assets, liabilities, equity and smart contracts as companies adopt blockchain technologies.

Solomon Sunny is the market reporter for Smartereum, one of the global leaders in Ethereum, blockchain and currency news. He produces technical price updates on digital currencies and writes recent developments about blockchain.

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