Large corporations began to show interest in the technology and implement blockchain back in 2014; as of September 2021, 81 of the 100 largest public companies are using blockchain technology.
This list also includes companies that are still in the research phase of blockchain technology, which means that they are now exploring all the options available to determine if the technology is right for them.
Meanwhile, blockchain solutions are currently being developed in 24 companies, and in fact are in production in another 27. These 27 companies already have a blockchain-based product or service that is being used by their users / customers / business partners.
Blockchain of varying degrees of development
However, even if we do not take into account the companies that are currently in the research stage, there are still 65 companies actively developing their blockchain solutions. Blockdata has classified companies according to five tiers of blockchain technology development.
At the moment, 16 of the world’s leading public companies are only at the research stage. At this time, 14 have already started launching pilot programs, which means that they are preliminary testing the blockchain solution to see if it is suitable for their business.
Finally, 19 of these 100 companies were initially involved in blockchain technology, but no longer work with it or have never started developing it.
- More than 80% of the top 100 public companies currently use blockchain technology, according to a study by Blockdata.
- But even if we exclude companies that are only at the technology research stage from the list, there will still be 65 companies actively developing their blockchain solutions.
- The study also included data on the technologies companies prefer and the purpose of their use.
New use cases for blockchain
The study also included data on which technologies these companies preferred and why they used them in the first place.
Of the 30 technologies investigated, Hyperledger Fabric, a distributed ledger technology (DLT), was preferred by these 100 companies. It is used by about 26% of the top 100 public companies. It is followed by Ethereum with 18% and Quorum with 11%.
According to the study, one of the main ways these companies use blockchain technology is by providing blockchain as infrastructure. Also, with the help of this technology, companies have improved characteristics such as traceability and provenance. This happened thanks to the integration of blockchain into supply chain solutions. DLT solutions are also used in equity markets such as clearing and settlement.
While blockchains have a reputation for being open and distributed, many companies have opted for more private solutions instead. Most seemed to have a preference for exclusive blockchains, which allowed them to build customized private solutions such as IBM Hyperledger Fabric and Sawtooth.
