Kitco.com – Fortune 500 companies see blockchain and web3 as critical to survival and growth
(Kitco News) – Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the U.S., has released a new report on blockchain adoption by corporations that found that 52% of Fortune 100 companies have pursued crypto, blockchain or web3 initiatives since the start of 2020.
Last week’s spot Bitcoin ETF filing by BlackRock has led to renewed conversations about the level of engagement that institutions have had with blockchain and cryptocurrencies, and the report from Coinbase indicates a steady increase in activity despite the crypto winter of 2022.
According to the report, “About 60% of Fortune 100 initiatives reported since the start of 2022 have been either in the pre-launch stage or already launched,” and 83% of the Fortune 500 executives surveyed who are familiar with blockchain or cryptocurrency indicated their companies have initiatives in place or are planning them currently.
“These companies, among the world’s largest and best known, are innovating and investing in these technologies because they know that our century-old global financial system needs updating, that blockchain can be a foundational solution, and that not keeping pace will mean losing ground in this global economy to competitors around the world, among other reasons,” Coinbase said. “About two-thirds (64%) of surveyed Fortune 500 executives who are familiar with cryptocurrency or blockchain say that investing in these technologies is important for staying ahead of their competition.”
The dominant portion (75%) of the initiatives put forward since Q1 2020 have been by technology, financial services, and retail account companies. The ten companies with the highest number of initiatives “consist of four of the largest tech companies, four of the largest banks, a retail giant, and a beverage colossus,” the report said.
The most common use case being explored is data collection and management – both customer and internal data – and 77% of the surveyed executives agreed that blockchain could help make the financial system work better for everyone. Other popular use cases include web3 initiatives that focus on infrastructure and supply chain management.
Use cases being explored by Fortune 500 companies. Source: Coinbase
Since 2017, Fortune 100 companies have invested more than $8 billion through their participation in a total of 109 private venture capital investments across 80 blockchain startups. The average Fortune 500 company initiative or project budget for 2023 is nearly $5.8 million, and 57% of crypto/blockchain-aware Fortune 500 executives surveyed said their company’s investment will grow in the next two years.
The biggest barrier to investment and adoption is a lack of clear rules for crypto, blockchain and web3, and the lack of regulatory clarity is also being perceived as a challenge to U.S. leadership of the global financial system.
87% of the Fortune 500 executives surveyed said clear rules are important to sustain its leadership, and 92% agreed that policymakers should develop new rules for these new technologies instead of enforcing older rules developed for older technologies.
“Concerns about both company and US competitiveness raise the stakes for clear rules in the US that support innovation and job creation, and preserve US leadership of the global financial system,” the report said. “The US is at risk of losing out on 1 million web3 developer jobs and 3 million related non-technical jobs to other countries between now and 2030 if it continues on its current path of regulation by enforcement.”
In just the last six years, the U.S. went from contributing 40% of the development of web3 to 29% currently, which Coinbase said has forfeited “influence over global financial and data standards to other countries,” and has pushed innovation and investment overseas.
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Many of the Fortune 500 executives surveyed said that web3 is critical to their companies’ survival and growth, that business is moving in this direction, and they don’t want to get left behind. Those that focus their web3 efforts on global supply management and inventory control said that the world needs to function as a single entity and that web3-based technologies will greatly facilitate that process.
In order to help expand crypto, blockchain and other web3 technology adoption in the future, Coinbase has recommended a focus on educating corporations and consumers about the benefits of investment, partnering with developer communities and colleges to educate more skilled talent and keep the innovation on-shore, and continuing to push for regulatory clarity.
“Regulatory uncertainty remains an ongoing concern for top corporations in terms of their own ability to compete and that of the US in the global financial system and the global economy,” Coinbase said. “However, with consumer markets around the world including the UK, EU, Japan and UAE establishing crypto-forward frameworks, and the likelihood that certainty will arrive in the US (either through the legal process or legislation), the landscape will continue to evolve. The sector has faced significant headwinds of late, yet the current pace of adoption outlined in this report, by leading US companies focused on the medium and long term, speaks to the size of the opportunity.”
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