Blockchain, five obstacles that must be overcame

Ryan Browne on CNBC publishes in summary the content of a Deloitte report which lists five main hurdles the technology needs to overcome to see widespread adoptionwidely:
1. Increased performance: the blockchain reduces the risk of malicious activity being carried out on the network, it can also increase the time it takes for transactions to settle.
2. Interoperability: with an increasing number of players in an ever-expanding industry like blockchain, some worry that with so many different networks, no standard exists to allow them to interact with each other. This standardization is what the industry calls interoperability.
3. Reduction of complexity, cost: bitcoin’s blockchain network is the fact that it relies on intensive computing power — and hence a lot of electricity — in order to run. The price tag of validating transactions in the first place could be a problem for the widespread penetration of that technology in commercial activity
4. Supportive regulation: as cryptocurrency prices spiked last year, regulators became increasingly uneasy about the speculative nature of the market. Some progress is being made on the regulatory front, with 17 U.S. state legislatures either mulling or passing bills related to blockchain adoption.
5. More collaboration: more firms working in the sector need to collaborate in order for the technology to promote both the development of applications and education. “As a technology that facilitates transactions across a network, the value of a blockchain network increases with the number of users,” the Deloitte report said. “That’s one reason why the growth of blockchain consortia is a bullish sign.”