Adam Riccoboni, Managing Director of UK-based consultancy firm, Critical Future, recently spoke with Coin Rivet about blockchain and cryptocurrency adoption and regulation.

“What blockchain will do for the world is the next phase in the evolution of the internet. The first phase was the exchange of information, and that’s working extremely well. The next phase will be about exchanging things of value without having to trust each other because of its immutable, permanent and transparent nature,” he says.

Eight out of ten say blockchain will go mainstream

We’re entering a new era; there’s no doubt about that. Many experts agree and so do businesses, because as Riccoboni says, “eight out of ten entrepreneurs we spoke with, are in favour of blockchain adoption and believe it will become mainstream”.

This statistic is significant considering Riccoboni and his colleagues at Critical Future carried out comprehensive market research that took them six months, throughout which, among other things, they reached out to 1,800 business people around the world. The study, which costs $6,500, is aimed at helping business, organisations and governments save time and money doing the market analysis themselves.

The first exchange of things of value has been the world famous transactions made with the mother of all cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin. “And Bitcoin has been extremely successful, much more so than many people anticipated,” he states.

Not just a buzzword

“When you put everything together, you see that this is something that’s really here to stay. It’s not a buzzword. It is a transformative technology that is going to have a tremendous impact over the next five to eight years on the foundational level of society and economics,” he adds.

And will blockchain help fight poverty, inequality and corruption? “Absolutely! There are already some charities that are doing some outstanding work with blockchain. There’s one charity in Africa that is using artificial intelligence and blockchain to combat corruption. So, yes, absolutely a definite positive social outcome.”

There may be some resistance to this technology from corrupt governments, but there is hope that they will ultimately see the benefits and also come under social pressure to adopt blockchain, Riccoboni says. Colombia, Australia, Malta, Mongolia and others are already down that path.

The wealthy feel threatened?

Who else could be against blockchain and cryptocurrency? Oh, right, the powerful 1% of the population who own 99% of the world’s wealth.

“Yes, they could offer resistance or place obstacles. Yes, I absolutely agree with you because blockchain is democratising and distributing power away from one those who hold all the power and distributing it among the rest,” responds Riccoboni.

For all those who still have doubts or are sceptics about blockchain and, more so about crypto, they need to accept the fact that even top firms and governments who previously spoke terribly about both spaces are now intensively working on regulations which will help foment innovation and spur mass adoption.