A couple of years ago, proponents touted the blockchain, the underlying technology behind Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, as a solution to nearly every business problem. Investment money flooded in. But many of those early proofs of concept fizzled out and the hype died down.
Now, however, the noise about blockchain’s superpowers is fading, according to analysts like Gartner. With the hype settling down, companies are starting to look at blockchain with a more realistic, practical-minded approach — and starting to zero in on those applications where the technology’s advantages make sense.
“2021 is the year enterprise blockchain begins its long climb out of the ‘trough of disillusionment,'” wrote Avivah Litan, a Gartner analyst, in a report released in January.
Blockchain, businesses are finding, has a number of practical uses, including supply chain management, financial instrument auctions, and smart contracts, which are self-executing contracts written in code. For developers, this means opportunity in the form of growing demand for people with rare skills.
