Collecting data helps us to develop and
inform research questions, such as what is the relationship between blockchain activity and economic growth? This question is not only interesting
from an academic perspective, it may have significant policy
implications. Many policymakers are thinking about how to balance a desire for increasing
economic growth with regulating the blockchain industry, and our research has shaped the policy discussion
around this topic.
However, we are not able to address such research questions unless we have strong participation from you in our research surveys.
It’s important to make clear that the data published
in our studies is aggregate data, not individual organization data. For example, we
show country level data, or sector level data (e.g., data for all wallets, or all exchanges) but never _____ organization’s individual data. We take data privacy and
confidentiality very seriously and work hard to ensure that our research does
not threaten trade secrets or security in any way.
We are currently running our first global blockchain and cryptocurrency benchmarking study. On the blockchain side
we’re looking at permissioned distributed ledgers and non-monetary use cases, such
as provenance, as well as public sector blockchains (e.g., central bank digital
currency) and what’s happening with distributed ledger technology in U.S. states
like Delaware. For cryptocurrencies we’re examining exchanges (specifically
security), payments, wallets, and mining.
There are many good reasons for organizations to support this research by completing our surveys. Firms can benefit from the wide exposure these
reports receive as we offer all participants the opportunity to have their
logo included in the report. This study will also help with the formation of
key performance indicators.
But perhaps the biggest reason for cryptocurrency
and blockchain firms to participate in our benchmarking study is that this study can
help the industry constructively engage regulators and policymakers. Many regulators
are keen to learn more about the alternative finance sector without burdening companies with invasive and time consuming data requests. Benchmarking
is a time honoured way to achieve this goal, and participation in this study is a way to signal to the world that the blockchain and cryptocurrency space is maturing.
Thank you for supporting this research by
completing our surveys. You can find more information about the study, including a video of my study kickoff presentation at Shanghai Blockchain Week, in a prior blog post here. Please also feel free to get in touch if you have any questions.