A new age of digital assets is dawning – according to a study by Deloitte. Participants agree: digital assets will replace fiat currencies. But when?
Deloitte is one of the largest accounting, management and strategy consulting firms in the world. In the period from March 24th to April 10th, 2021, the company has a study on the topic of blockchain. The overarching topic was what role blockchain and cryptocurrencies will play in financial services. Participants in the study included senior executives from the financial services industry.
Digital assets will replace fiat
Over three-quarters of respondents from the financial industry agreed on one point: digital assets will replace traditional fiat currencies in the long term. The period in which digital assets replace fiat currencies is particularly interesting. Because if it is up to the study participants, this should not be the case in the next hundred years, but in five to ten years.
Blockchain has arrived in the mainstream
Bitcoin or blockchain were never intended to be just a theoretical construct. Both technologies were developed with the intention of revolutionizing processes in the financial world. Has Bitcoin reached mainstream adoption in 2021? An impressive 81 percent of those questioned answered in the affirmative. They also stated that the blockchain is extensively scalable and therefore suitable as a basis for business processes.
The clear picture is also shown in the next question. 73 percent of participants believe that their organization will lose an important competitive advantage if they fail to incorporate blockchain technology or digital assets into their business processes. Executives from the financial sector also agreed: 80 percent are certain that cryptocurrencies and / or digital assets will play an important role for their industry in the next 24 months.
Entirely new ways to win
Digital assets, cryptocurrencies and blockchain have the potential to fundamentally change many industries. New processes, ideas or even branches of industry can arise. The study participants also feel that way. Because 80 percent of the study participants are convinced that their industry will see completely new profit and revenue opportunities through blockchain-based solutions.
In addition, the technology brings a breath of fresh air to many old processes involving payments, lending, and investments. At least 80 percent of the participants, business partners, suppliers and customers are already working on corporate solutions that use blockchain technology, for example.
Barriers to Blockchain Adoption
The executives were also asked about the challenges of a really widespread blockchain adoption. For the technologies to be truly successful, some obstacles would first have to be removed, according to the tenor. The following areas were rated as primary and particularly important by the participants in order to promote blockchain adoption:
- 68 percent see data security and privacy as the greatest challenge
- 57 percent recognize obstacles in industry-specific and regulatory rules
- 48 percent ultimately identify geographic factors, such as the EU data protection regulation or the US Patriot Act, as an obstacle
Respondents were also asked about central bank digital money (CBDC)
Central banks around the world are considering introducing their own digital central bank currency. Most have even started their own pilot projects or are already planning to launch such a digital currency. For example the European Union with the digital euro, China or African countries like Ghana.
When asked “What do you consider to be the most important quality and capabilities of CBDCs?” Only 41 percent of respondents said that CBDCs stimulate new innovations for payments. Furthermore, only 23 percent saw CBDCs as a quick and inexpensive way to send money abroad, for example to families or friends.
The study participants come from ten different countries: e.g. Brazil (90 respondents), Germany (160 respondents), Hong Kong (105 respondents), Japan (60 respondents), United Kingdom (120 respondents), South Africa (30 respondents) or the United States ( 425 respondents). All participants had at least a basic understanding of blockchain, cryptocurrencies or digital assets.