Regulatory Uncertainty Stands As A Major Hurdle to Blockchain Adoption: PwC Report
A latest PwC survey done across 15 countries and comprising of 600 global business executives suggest that the ongoing uncertainty in the global regulatory space is acting as a major hurdle slowing the speed of blockchain adoption.
In the survey titled “Blockchain is here. What’s your next move?”, respondents claim that restricted regulations are playing a major spoiler instead of technical and philosophical issues. Nearly 48% voted restricted regulations to be the top three factors restricting blockchain development with 27% saying it to be the single biggest hurdle.
In addition to restricted regulations, other issues that were considered are the reason behind the slow blockchain adoption were lack of trust among users, inability to bring the network together, and other technical challenges of scalability and interoperability.
Blockchain leader at PwC, Steve Davies, said: “Businesses tell us that they don’t want to be left behind by blockchain, even if at this early stage of its development, concerns on trust and regulation remain. Blockchain by its very definition should engender trust. But in reality, companies confront trust issues at nearly every turn.”
In a word with Forbes, strategic policy advisers leader at PwC - Alison Kutler said that these dynamics are not surprising considering the fact that the decentralized nature of the blockchain technology has made regulators skeptical about it.
Kutler said: “This conflict is creating tension, especially in industries with mature regulatory constructs and high-value transactions. In addition, widespread adoption of blockchain across jurisdictions and participants requires standardization, which is often achieved from a central authority.”
She further added: “However, technology mandates by policy makers can also harm innovation if overly prescriptive, presenting a delicate balancing act for the future of blockchain policy.”
Although the regulatory bodies across Asia, North America and Europe have been taking several measures for regulating digital assets and ICOs, each of them has their different modus operandi on dealing with them. This lack of unified regulations adds further uncertainty to the matter.
The report also notes that the businesses operating in the blockchain industry, which are doing something innovative shouldn’t expect any leverage from the regulators. When it comes to laying the ground for blockchain development, the ball is still in the court of the regulators. Kutler said: "Regulators should be aware that they have the attention of industry leaders and innovators developing in this area, and as such, they should bring them to the table to collaborate on reasonable oversight.”
Moreover, it has to be noted that a majority of the regulatory attention is focused on controlling the crypto and ICO markets, with blockchain development getting a lukewarm response. Kutler notes: "Policy makers in some jurisdictions seem more supportive of the innovative applications of blockchain and are creating regulatory environments that allow incubators to develop new applications. The results of these highly experimental environments for blockchain-based commerce will be critically influential for expanding policies to more geographic areas and industries."