While many remain uncertain about what impact blockchain will have on their businesses, 60% of the CIOs surveyed as part of Gartner’s ‘2019 CIO Agenda Survey’ expect some level of adoption of blockchain technologies in the next three years. According to the research firm, key industries set to transform thanks to blockchain include the banking and investment services industries, the world of gaming and the retail space. And yet, David Furlonger, a research VP at Gartner, says that the existing digital infrastructure of many organisations and a lack of clear governance limits CIOs from getting full value out of blockchain.

For Riccardo Spagni, lead developer at Monero and co-founder of local blockchain startup Tari, there’s definite transformative power in blockchain. But people often underestimate how much time and effort – and convincing of regulators – is required to really enjoy the benefits of blockchain. Spagni cites Bitcoin as a prime example. Bitcoin has been around for a decade, but only now are we starting to accept what’s required to achieve scale and scope. This isn’t to say that Bitcoin hasn’t already been transformative: there are people whose lives have been transformed because of Bitcoin, he asserts. “But broad sweeping statements about its ability to fundamentally change business and society are laughable at this stage.