JUNE 2021CIOAPPLICATIONSEUROPE.COM8LEVERAGING BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY IN THE BANKING AND FINANCIAL SECTORuring 2020, the popularity of the Blockchain market has grown unexpectedly. We have witnessed businesses from a multitude of industries adopting Blockchain technology for enhancing their business processes. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the digital transformation drive in many areas, especially via the use of blockchain or distributed ledger technology.If finally, the Digital currencies will be adopted from Central banks, this may result the global blockchain market size to expand from USD 3.0 billion in 2020 to USD 40 billion by 2025, at an effective Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 67.3percent during 2020­2025.The combination of technology and payment innovative developments like Instant payment and the impact of COVID-19 will further accelerate blockchain transition.New ProjectsWe expect to see a reorientation of the various blockchain projects. Experts predict that 90percent of blockchain projects will require replacement within a year.That is because most are ignoring key features such as tokenisation, smart contracts, and decentralised consensus. In addition, COVID-19 has put new challenges towards more realistic and pragmatic approaches to blockchain initiatives specifically focused on the day-to-day business "to continue their growth path".New Blockchain projects with clear benefits are expected to achieve that during 2021 at an even faster pace. There has also been an uptick in the number of companies interested in participating in networks that specifically help to address some of the supply chain issues that the pandemic has put forward. Due to market uncertainty sparked by COVID-19, many corporates had to pull back from some of their more long-term DLT-related projects for the time being. Moreover, long-term strategic projects requiring changes to the market structure or regulatory changes are prolonging their time schedules. Additionally, funding for experimental and R&D projects has been cut this year. And this will cause an even larger number of these projects will be put on hold. Still, digital transformation is no longer a choice for businesses--it is essential to survival. Blockchain technology is expected to make the most transformative and dramatic changes in the way businesses function during the coming years. Many industries are, therefore, intensively looking at blockchain as a helpful tool to achieve the benefits of digital transformation.Upcoming TrendsDEFIAnother interesting trend in 2021 will be DEFI or Decentralised Financial services. If we look at DEFI, it shows how blockchain could be used for financial use cases which up till now has been "the missing point" for enterprise blockchain offerings. DEFI illustrates the successful process of smart contracts for financial services. This alternative form of financing perfectly fits into a Fintech-driven economy. The total value of full-time decentralised financial services (based on cryptocurrencies) IOANNIS ROUSSOS, HEAD OF DEPOSITS & INVESTMENT, EUROBANKIN MYOPINIOND
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