Disclaimer: Does this look like financial advice? You are right. It isn’t. Treat it so.

“Do Your Own Research” (DYOR) is not a fad but an important element of the cryptoverse. Do keep that in mind.

Where Does Adoption Begin? | Through Institutional Investors? | Or Through Blockchain Solutions?

Back in 2017 (and prior), the crypto-verse was looked at as a gambling den where degens put their money only to lose it. Even when Bitcoin was trading in multiple thousands of dollars, big institutions and banks stayed at the periphery and waited for all of it to fall. They wanted to be the first ones to point out “I told you so”.

But by 2020, when the “told you so” day did not come, institutions took a harder look at the blockchain world. When it dawned on them that this was no fad waiting to fade, they wanted to be smart and invest. I mean, there is a vast difference between ignorance and ignoring. They could ignore no more. The same banks which played down the crypto hype in 2017, started praising and putting money into the arena by 2020. There started the crypto adoption, or so we thought. On a lighter note, by 2020, all crypto degens did say, “I told you so.

While institutional players’ arrival was a good thing and did bring liquidity and money (lots of it) into the market, this was far from adoption. How can it be "adoption" when there were only 580 million players in the crypto verse and a handful of institutions with big money? Further, the institutions viewed the market as another avenue for investment and not as a solution for real-world problems. But adoption is when blockchain reaches the masses and serves their requirement irrespective of them knowing or not knowing the underlying technology.

Here's what changed around 2022. More organizations looked at blockchain as a solution for varying issues and decided to either operate a private blockchain or partner with existing public blockchains. The icing on the cake was the arrival of the Big Fours.

Big Fours | Big Endorsements

You have to admit that the Big Fours, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, PwC, and KPMG, taking interest in blockchain solutions had multiple benefits. For one it is a straightforward endorsement and advertisement. Two, remember those big institutions and banks I was talking about? Well, they started looking at blockchain for what it was – a solution platform and not just an investment avenue.

So, What Are the Big Fours Doing In the Crypto Space?

Let’s start with Deloitte, shall we?

Deloitte and Kilt Blockchain

Deloitte has partnered with the Polkadot ecosystem’s Kilt blockchain to offer logistics and supply-chain services focused on the shipping industry. The solution offered is KYX which is a combination of Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Cargo system. So, in one go, you get to know about the customer and their cargo. Sounds cool?

Not cool enough, if you ask me. No point in talking about technology and solutions if no customer/client is using it. Oh, but wait, Deloitte does have a client. Shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd will be the first to implement the KYX system. Now, it sounds cool!

I have only one question for readers. Have you bought DOT and KILT coins/tokens already? No? Well, what are you waiting for?

Deloitte and Chainalysis

For starters, Chainalysis is a blockchain-based forensics firm that uses on-chain data to trace crypto transactions and identify frauds, hacks, etc. around digital assets. The way I see it, they can get public details of the transactions from the blockchain and trace the addresses and amounts associated with a wallet or wallets. Simple?

So, Deloitte has partnered with Chainalysis to reach out to their common clients and offer them services to manage forensic, investigative, and compliance programs. The association will be in line with industry requirements as regulation and compliance around the globe will come into effect for digital assets. Again, Chainalysis already has clients like the Connecticut State Police being offered investigative solutions. That makes it another real-world solution in action.

One question to readers – does Chainalysis have its native token or coin? 😉

Ernst & Young Leveraging Polygon Proof-of-Stake

Ernst & Young has plans for an enterprise contract management service that allows clients to upload their contracts on a public blockchain and yet keep the data secure leveraging the security that a blockchain provides. While the service is right now on Polygon, EY plans to move the service to Ethereum mainnet and to a layer-3 in the future.

For the inquisitive ones, the name of the system is Nightfall.

And I have no questions for you if you don’t know Ethereum and Polygon.

What About PwC and KPMG?

While PwC and KPMG do not have active collaborations in the blockchain space, make no mistake about the work that they are doing. A glance at their website shows the solutions around Financial Systems and Audits.

Does that mean, they chose a private blockchain over a public one? Maybe, but the pertinent point is that they will soon conclude that a public blockchain is a better bet as the underlying infrastructure is already in place. Not only that, a private blockchain inhibits the possibility of connecting with an external partner without making all data visible to everyone. Imagine your pricing being exposed to your vendor partner or client. That’s what PwC and KPMG have to figure out.

I guess, Deloitte and EY are ahead of the curve. Or ahead on the Big Four learning curve.

Big Four Presence in Blockchain | Big Plus for the Sector

We all know that the Big Fours provide consulting, technology, and auditing solutions. The point here is, that they would look at blockchain as a solution not only for themselves but for their clients as well. That means, at least, B2B adoption should soon follow. As more and more B2B clients use blockchain, it is inevitable that sooner or later the B2C segment will interface with the underlying technology.

And when that happens, real adoption follows!

Image Courtesy: Ijmaki at Pixabay || Geralt at Pixabay