XRP and blockchain adoption will explode in the next months

• Report finds increased adoption of digital assets such as XRP and blockchain technology during 2020.
• In the next two years, 24% of survey participants expect to be in a blockchain product testing phase.

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Ripple has published its third annual report on “Blockchain in Payments” with positive results for the blockchain industry, the XRP digital asset, and cryptocurrencies. The report is based on a survey conducted from August to September of this year. The 854 respondents are involved in the provision of payment services and were spread over 22 countries.

In addition, Ripple revealed that the companies surveyed range in size in terms of revenue from $500,000 to more than $10 billion. In that regard, Ripple makes a comparison with the 2019 results and states that the blockchain industry is in its final phase of adoption. In the current context, with the global economy affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, the report states:

Business interest in digital assets, when paired with blockchain technology for payments, has grown sharply as early adopters look to increase the speed in payment settlements.

In that sense, the report indicates that 79% of participants have shown growth by entering unexplored markets and improving their services and products. Of all sectors, the most crucial was innovation in payment technology, according to 44% of participants. The companies surveyed say that their customers expect them to “continue to innovate in payment technologies”.

In terms of adoption, the report found that 34% of participants are in the production of some solution with blockchain technology. Therefore, this sector has made a leap between “early adopters to early majority”. 24% of the participants expect to complete production and move on to a pilot test and a proof-of-concept within the next two years, as shown below.

In emerging markets, 37% of participants are in production to implement blockchain technology. Asia and the Pacific (APAC) is the leading region in these terms with 41%, followed by Latin America (LATAM) by multiplying its participation in blockchain production by 6. Then, the Middle East and Africa (MEA) with 24% of production and a possible increase to 29%, as shown in the graph below.

XRP and its role in the growing blockchain adoption

Another key point revealed by the Ripple report is the diversification in use cases by companies using blockchain technology. 98% of participants using a blockchain have deployed technology for supply chain management (62%), commerce, and finance (51%). So it’s not surprising that 99% of participants said their company could use a digital asset such as XRP to process payments or as a medium of exchange. In contrast to the 2018 results, this figure has grown by 94%.

Among the strengths that participants said blockchain technology has, the speed to make cross-border transactions received 40% of the responses. In this aspect, the digital asset XRP and its instantaneous transfers with Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity solution offer the most important benefit for respondant companies. Along with cost (32%) and reliability (27%), as shown below.

Among the obstacles to blockchain adoption, participants mentioned a lack of regulatory clarity, the amount of investment required to implement the technology, and security. However, the results show that digital assets such as XRP are increasingly becoming an important part of the development of the blockchain industry. The report concludes:

Emerging markets are leading the charge, recognizing that responsible usage of blockchain and digital assets can unleash tremendous potential for their economy. Without a doubt, both will drive greater financial inclusion and economic growth not unlike the Internet’s impact. Mature markets stand to benefit as well