The worldwide blockchain technology market is forecast to reach $7.74 billion by 2024, with the financial services sector accounting for the majority of the future market growth, predicts a new report.
“Blockchain technology is one of the most promising upcoming technological trends in the information technology domain,” according to Grand View Research, a San Francisco-based market research and forecasting company which authored the report.
The report predicts continued growth in the U.S. and Canadian markets (40.9 percent of the market). Meanwhile, China and India will see a compound aggregate growth rate of 37.6 percent in the next eight years as the growing financial sector adopts blockchain technology.
“Not only does the technology hold the ability to disrupt the way the financial sector often works but it will also have ramifications on many other industries including consumer goods, technology, and media and telecom, among others,” reads the report.
Major Blockchain Market Players
The report describes a number of successful ventures including the Microsoft and Deloitte collaboration with R3.
“A wide range of players in the finance market are looking out for investment opportunities and many have made the first phase of investments to develop products and services in the industry,” it notes. “Though the market may be struggling with regulatory uncertainties and security concerns, the coming years are expected to witness a larger role of the concerned technology in financial transactions, spanning diverse domains and industries.”
It also gives the nod to other major companies that are currently active market players in the blockchain industry, including IBM, the Linux Foundation, Chain Inc., Circle Internet Financial and Ripple, among others.
Public Sector Dominance
The report predicts that the public sector will dominate the future blockchain market because of what it sees as “the growing tendency of the government and institutions to inculcate open and efficient transactions. For example, the Australian Securities Exchange announced that the exchange had intentions to move Australia’s settlement and clearing systems on the blockchain platform.”
In the author's’ view, private networks will go forward more cautiously than the public sector but will continue to expand its involvement with the blockchain in the next eight years.
Global blockchain technology market by type, 2015 — 2024 (USD Million)
The report notes that the major factors that will drive the success of the blockchain market are the willingness of the banking, financial services and insurance sectors to accept what it calls “crypto currencies among others” and the future rate of merchant adoption.
In a similar report released the same day, Transparency Market Research made its own prediction with a much higher expected market of $20 billion in 2024 (as compared to $316 million in 2015). This report predicts a compound aggregate growth rate of 58.7 percent by 2024.
Blockchain expert Alex Tapscott, co-author of the book Blockchain Revolution recently gave Bitcoin Magazine his prediction for the blockchain market.
“One, a major central bank will live test a digital fiat currency and it will work very well, leading to broader adoption,” he said. “Additionally, large banks will begin shifting large amounts of OTC [over-the-counter] transactions to real-time settlement on private distributed ledgers. Look for JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Barclays and Santander to lead the charge. And companies large and small and in every industry will begin developing a blockchain strategy, hiring key IT talent and launching pilots.”