Bitcoin bashing is nothing unusual these days, but criticism of the underlying blockchain technology is rare. Why the McKinsey judgment overlooks an important issue. That in recent weeks and months the voices pile up, predicting the crypto-currency Bitcoin a quick sinking into insignificance, is not new.
However, the fact that bashing also refers to the blockchain technology behind it is in fact unusual. But that’s exactly what McKinsey says in a recent report that there’s doubt that the potential of technology is so high. The blockchain is too complex and not necessary for many applications, they say.
Also, given the high investment that has already been invested in researching and improving the technology, there is still no evidence that the blockchain technique provides a decisive advantage.
Immense investments in the blockchain
One problem that is repeatedly raised is indeed the scalability or bottleneck in processing business transactions. But what is problematic in particular for bitcoins, is in fact no obstacle in many private private block chains. In addition, one must not be too impatient with such a new technology. Many technologies used today require a certain amount of development time – and something as complex as Blockchain is not available to companies from now on.
After all, the opinion of the McKinsey consultants is not just a gut feeling. According to the report, the consultants analyzed about 100 blockchain projects in the areas of financial transactions, healthcare and art. Above all, the immense costs that are necessary for start-up financing are criticized. The financial industry alone is investing around $ 1.7 billion a year for blockchain solutions in the experimental phase.