Deloitte study: Business leaders believe the end of physical money is near

Digital assets might replace traditional currencies in the next five to ten years, according to 76 percent of the business leaders around the globe active in various industries who participated to the latest edition of the Deloitte Global Blockchain Survey. This view is also shared by three quarters of the senior executives from the financial services industry, who believe that the end of physical money is near.

Also, the study points out that the financial services sector must accelerate product modernization and distribution to achieve economic growth, as 73 percent of the survey participants fear their organizations will lose competitive advantage if they fail to adopt blockchain and digital assets.

Despite these challenges, 80 percent of the respondents are optimistic about future revenue opportunities from blockchain, digital assets and cryptocurrency solutions.

The optimism over the potential of blockchain, digital assets and cryptocurrency solutions is tempered by obstacles, the survey underlines, as six in ten respondents (63 percent) identified regulatory barriers among the biggest challenge to acceptance of digital assets. Security concerns also rise to the top of the list, as 71 percent of respondents indicated cybersecurity as one of the biggest obstacles.

“Digital assets have transformed the financial services industry and have fuelled new business models capable of boosting the financial ecosystem into the new future of money. In this context, the way financial institutions will succeed to redefine themselves might be the key to enhance economic growth. Even if blockchain is a relatively new technology, it is gaining traction in Romania, as it is the case worldwide. Start-ups are going beyond using the blockchain technology in the field of financial services through cryptocurrencies and are starting to tailor solutions using its features for sectors such as healthcare or retail, a trend that might contribute to the emergence of a new generation of unicorns in the future,” stated Andrei Ionescu, Partner-in-Charge Consulting and Risk Advisory, Deloitte Romania.

The survey also highlights that global financial services leaders see digital assets and their underlying blockchain technologies as a strategic priority now and in the near future, as nearly 80 percent of participants to the survey say that digital assets will be important to their respective industries by 2023. Moreover, organizations from the financial services industry might need to find new business models, the study emphasizes, such as custody (45 percent), new payment channels (42 percent) and diversification of investments/portfolios (41 percent).

In addition, the survey’s findings support the use of digital assets to simplify payments, which is currently a very fragmented and complex process, as 42 percent of respondents say that new payment options will play a very important role among the digital assets in their organizations.