Blockchain markets take a $2.8 billion hit and will rebound by 2023, says ABI Research.
Worldwide blockchain revenues fell 35 percent between 2018 and 2020. Global tech market advisory firm ABI Research calculated the potential loss to hit $2.8 billion.
The 2018 crypto winter wiped 80 percent of the total aggregate market cap, and since then, more than 2,000 cryptocurrencies have collapsed. This dampened blockchain adoption significantly in other markets, with many startups folding and different verticals showing a distinct lack of uptake.
The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on investment opportunities and appetite for new blockchain applications.
âMany speculative offerings were purged from the marketplace. However, this will be relatively beneficial for the blockchain ecosystem overall, strengthening existing startups and ensuring sounder and more valuable business models emerge over the next few years. The market will get back to 2018 revenue levels by 2023,â said Michela Menting, digital security research director at ABI Research.
The report on blockchain industry said the pandemic has had some positive impacts on select blockchain applications, notably supply chain and logistics management (due in part to the international scramble for medical and healthcare equipment, such as masks, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), ventilators, testing kits, etc.).
Beyond that, interest in blockchain applications for healthcare is soaring, notably for sharing timely, relevant, and authenticated information on the pandemic (including regarding the spread of infection, containment practices, hygiene-based information, data related to trials and vaccine research, etc.), especially in light of misinformation increasingly being spread online and through social media.
Blockchain projects launched by the United Nations’ World Health Organization, alongside many national Centers for Disease Control, show the usefulness of blockchain in these circumstances. Healthcare applications are expected to increase faster than anticipated in light of the pandemic.