Financial industry to adopt blockchain in 2025: report

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Blockchain is one of the key technologies that will shape the financial services industry in 2025, business automation firm Quadient notes in its projection for the future of finance and accounting.

Blockchain’s role in finance has evolved drastically over the past decade. Initially, it was viewed as a wholesale replacement for the existing rails, but stakeholders are now integrating the technology to improve legacy systems. Quadient financial automation director Sarah-Jayne Martin says the adoption will accelerate in 2025 as more firms utilize blockchain to log and analyze their transactions.

“In 2025, more finance teams will turn to blockchain for accurate financial transaction logging, reporting and analysis…there is a growing awareness of its advantages. In part, this is due to an acceptance that the benefits of blockchain extend beyond cryptocurrency and outweigh the perceived complexities,” she stated.

The financial industry usually lags behind other sectors in adopting emerging technology. For instance, it still relies on SWIFT for financial messaging, which makes cross-border fund transfers costly, slow, and inefficient. This is gradually changing, and many countries now have instant payment systems, like India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Brazil’s PIX.

According to Martin, blockchain’s appeal goes beyond instant and cost-effective payments.

“In practice, the increased level of transparency can play a pivotal role for finance teams. For example, blockchain’s accurate record-keeping can transform areas like credit risk analysis by enabling instant access to transaction histories and credit data. On top of this, blockchain’s built-in chronological audit trails streamline compliance reporting and ensure regulatory alignment,” she added.

Blockchain is transforming financial services globally, with developing nations recording the most impact. In Uganda, for instance, KitePesa enables swift funds transfers through a BSV-powered stablecoin, while in South Africa, Centbee’s remittance product, powered by the Centi stablecoin, has reduced funds transfer time from three days to minutes.

“Ultimately, embracing blockchain will help finance teams mitigate risk and improve financial precision, which will help drive wider growth in a competitive landscape,” Martin says.

While the opportunity for blockchain in finance is vast, adoption isn’t easy. Regulations, implementation costs, and the sector’s notorious aversion to change can be major hurdles. Still, researchers project the opportunity to grow steadily, with Zion Market predicting it will hit $80 billion by 2032.

Watch: Futureproof Tech Summit 2024—Exploring new AI-blockchain business models