Practical blockchain governance models will emerge
Data security increased with crypto anchors, beacons, etc.
Central Bank Digital Currency Expands to Retail


IBM announced its top 5 blockchain predictions for 2020.

In 2019, companies around the world collaborated to achieve tangible business results, going beyond the simple adoption of blockchain technology. Through this, substantial changes began to occur across various industries.

The IBM Blockchain Team conducted interviews with in-house blockchain technology experts, researchers, and employees supporting blockchain technology for industry customers, and announced the following five major predictions to watch in the blockchain field in 2020.


The Emergence of Practical Governance Models
At this juncture, when companies are expected to adopt blockchain technology on a large scale, governance is considered the most critical factor. According to an IBM survey, 41% of companies that have adopted blockchain cited the lack of standardized governance standards with partner companies as the most difficult aspect when building a blockchain Proof of Concept (PoC) or a minimum viable blockchain ecosystem.

In 2020, new and efficient governance models are expected to emerge that can assist large and diverse consortia in decision-making, approval systems, and payment methods. These models will help standardize information from different sources and collect more new and powerful data sets.

68% of CTOs and CIOs at companies that have adopted blockchain predicted that an expanded concept of governance model connecting multiple blockchain networks will emerge within the next three years and will play a very important role in the enterprise blockchain environment.


The realization of interconnectedness is getting closer
According to an IBM survey, 83% of companies that have adopted blockchain cited whether governance and standards supporting interconnectivity and interoperability between permissioned and permissionless blockchain networks are guaranteed as an important factor in joining a blockchain network.

While further research is required for this, it is expected that starting this year, recently emerged networks will reach a certain scale and become networks that support standard guidelines necessary for individual network members to integrate different protocols.


Integration with the latest technologies such as IoT, 5G, and AI
Blockchain is expected to provide greater benefits to network participants than before by being integrated with the latest technologies such as IoT, 5G, AI, and edge computing. Reliable data collected through blockchain will support and enhance algorithms.

Blockchain will support the secure storage and identification of data throughout all decision-making processes, enabling network participants to provide insights based on trustworthy data.


Identification of malicious and fraudulent data sources through verification tools
According to an IBM survey, 88% of companies that have adopted blockchain cited trust and transparency regarding data on the network as key factors for joining. However, today, with data collection and movement speeds faster than ever before, the security of all data cannot be guaranteed. Mistakes by data handlers and hackers are among the reasons for this.

The blockchain industry is expected to enhance data security by utilizing verification tools such as crypto-anchors and IoT-based beacons to block data transmitted from malicious or inaccurate sources. This is anticipated to increase the reliability of the blockchain ecosystem and reduce reliance on human-driven data entry processes, which are often prone to errors and crimes.


Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Expands to Retail
Tokens, digital currencies, and Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) are establishing themselves as major topics in the capital market.

Tokenizing assets and securities into digital tokens and trading and exchanging these digital assets is significantly changing the efficiency, security, and productivity of capital markets. 58% of organizations participating in an IBM survey agreed that new revenue streams can be generated by tokenizing assets exchanged in blockchain-based markets. New organizations and regulations are also being established to facilitate the creation, processing, trading, and settlement of tokens and digital currencies.

With Asian, Middle Eastern, and Caribbean countries simultaneously launching CBDC experiments in 2020, efforts to define payments in various ways are expected to continue into the new year. Wholesale CBDCs will continue to expand, while attempts at retail CBDCs will also begin. Interest in the tokenization and digitization of other types of assets or securities, such as central corporate bonds and U.S. long-term Treasury bonds, will increase.

In addition, IBM expected that various trends, such as blockchain-based digital identity authentication, would emerge.