[LINK] itN: Fancy that: "blockchain bets often bomb"

[Roger Clarke]

[In May 2016, Steve Wilson wrote:
http://lockstep.com.au/blog/2016/05/03/something-about-blockchain.html
"Almost everything you read about the blockchain is wrong. No new 
technology since the Internet itself has excited so many pundits, but 
blockchain just doesn’t do what most people seem to think it does. We’re 
all used to hype, and we can forgive genuine enthusiasm for shiny new 
technologies, but many of the claims being made for blockchain are just 
beyond the pale."

[I held back even longer before I slated it, until Sep 2016:
http://www.rogerclarke.com/EC/BCD.html
"The blockchain movement has all the hallmarks of a short bubble. It is 
mystical. It is promoted by means of invocation of ideas in good 
standing that have very tenuous connections with the notion and the 
technology. The interests of many of the organisations that are 
supporting it would appear to be served by the movement (if it is what 
it says it is) being still-born.  ... ignore the fluff projected about 
blockchain."

[In Jan 2017, Steve phrased it more politely:
http://lockstep.com.au/blog/2017/01/30/blockchain-simply.html
"Contrary to popular belief, blockchain is not a general purpose 
database or "trust machine". It only reaches consensus about one 
specific technicality – the order of entries in the ledger – and it 
requires a massive distributed network to do so only because its 
designer-operators choose to reject central administration. For regular 
business systems, blockchain's consensus is of questionable benefit"

[But, out there in corporate-land, realism is very slow to arrive.]


Finance industry's early blockchain bets often bomb
Anna Irrera and John McCrank
itNews
Jul 18 2019
https://www.itnews.com.au/news/finance-industrys-early-blockchain-bets-often-bomb-528390?eid=3&edate=20190718&utm_source=20190718_PM&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=daily_newsletter

...

Blockchain, ... "is a shiny mirage" and its wide-scale adoption may 
still "take a while."

... a review of 33 projects involving large companies announced over the 
past four years and interviews with more than a dozen executives 
involved with them show the technology has yet to deliver on its promise.

At least a dozen of these projects, which involve major banks, exchanges 
and technology firms, have not gone beyond the testing phase, the review 
shows. Those that have made it past that stage are yet to see extensive 
usage.

...

-- 
Roger Clarke                            mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au
T: +61 2 6288 6916   http://www.xamax.com.au  http://www.rogerclarke.com

Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA 

Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law            University of N.S.W.
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University