Over the past few years, the growth of Blockchain technology has been commendable and Blockchain is gaining a lot of attention and traction these days. Sharing about the growth of this next-gen technology in India with DT, Dipesh Kaura, GM, Kaspersky South Asia said, “We as an organization have observed that blockchain-based technology is becoming increasingly popular and is now used to solve a wide range of tasks – and it’s not all about cryptocurrencies. Our research indicates that the blockchain industry is growing between 50% and 80% CAGR each year. As supply chains are leading adopters of the technology, the COVID-19 impact slowed down the growth of blockchain around the world significantly over the past two years. However, that growth is already bouncing back.”
Key Factors Driving Blockchain Adoption
“We believe the efficiency and security are some of the important drivers of the decision making process to adopt blockchain. Our new patented blockchain technology eases the data management process and ensures the lawful sending and processing of information. It also guarantees authentication reliability of parties involved during data transfers and ensures information confidentiality. According to our research, the decentralized ownership, immutability and cryptographic security of data are the factors that characterise the technology and the ones that are driving its adoption in India and the world,” said by him.
Existing Challenges for Blockchain Market
Kaspersky has warned users and other organizations about the risks that can be exposed with blockchain technology. Talking on challenges, he said, “The challenges range from lack of awareness of people from participant organisations to integration of the various solutions, and technological preparedness. Cybersecurity remains as a big challenge and Blockchain is appropriate for areas requiring strong security because it is a decentralised technology. All information saved on a bitcoin or other blockchain network is validated and encrypted using a cryptographic algorithm, ensuring that a large-scale attack has no single point of entry. Given the fact that blockchains contain sensitive information about the assets and infrastructure of specific users and enterprises. Hence it is critically important to provide comprehensive protection to Indian markets.”
Positive Impacts of Blockchain Technology
“As a cybersecurity company, we have closely monitored that blockchain is one of the most influential technical breakthroughs in various fields. The increasing importance of crypto in India has made companies realise that blockchain technology is an efficient way that provides for the security of bitcoins and other digital currencies. Industries like banking, financing, supply chain and manufacturing are leading with the adoption of blockchain as it significantly brings down operational expenses by offering corruption-free data. One application of Kaspersky’s research findings is to legitimise the transfer of personal data. Other instances where this technology could be used include the exchange of trade supporting papers or the certification of workers' authority to sign off on B2B electronic transactions. Hence to summarize the top five blockchain benefits transforming the industry would be greater transparency, enhanced security, improved traceability, Increased efficiency, speed and reduced costs,” concluded Dipesh.
Key Trends
There are several trends in the market for blockchain technology that is driven by the specific use rather than a general evolutionary trend with an overall impact. “Among such trends is enterprise blockchain, which refers to private blockchain networks between parts of enterprises or between enterprises. Being a cybersecurity organization, we analysed metaverse security issues as one of the key trends. The digital wallet security issues come into play in the metaverse, just as they do anywhere else in the crypto space. There have been countless reports of compromised wallets in the metaverse, which resulted in stolen funds and NFTs. Cybersecurity is an industry that will observe massive innovation and Kaspersky as a market leader will continue to develop this idea and investigate its varied applications and adaptability to different solutions. In 2022, as the blockchain grows and organizations grow with it, keeping the data as safe as possible is becoming an even bigger trend.”
Government Approach
The Union Budget 2022 talks about India’s introduction of a digital currency, and blockchain technology will find a renewed impetus across government agencies as well as organisations in the future. “There is further proof of the government’s interest in this technology as the National Informatics Centre has established a Centre of Excellence in Blockchain Technology. It is building a blockchain ecosystem across the country. The SEBI too has asked depositories to create a system based on blockchain technology, to record and monitor the creation of securities. The benefits of this system will accrue to the common man, as governance gets more simplified. Blockchain is a digital world cybersecurity breakthrough that will help ensure that the CIA triads of cybersecurity (Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability) are followed. Other than this, supply chain, manufacturing, banking and finance are industries that are already adopting blockchain rapidly,” concluded by him.