If blockchain is the future, then the future must be now in Asia. Globally, blockchain adoption is becoming rampant; the US is working toward inclusive development, while other countries are pushing for widespread adoption. In China alone, formerly conservative sectors are beginning to warm up to cryptocurrency.
During last May's Blockchain Week in New York, discussions concerning the cryptocurrency flourished. Seeking Alpha reports that blockchain had started to get widespread acceptance in Asia. Whereas the West was still grasping at creating policies to control it, the rest of Asia seems fine whether there are stringent rules in place to regulate transactions, or not at all.
China, in particular, embraced it fully to the point that there are three times more patent applications in the country than the US. China, incidentally, initially banned cryptocurrency transactions and blocked company applications filed for the purpose of researching blockchain. In 2016 alone, Chinese cryptocurrency applications have hiked up four times the normal amount.
Job postings in the sector controlled by cryptocurrency seem to have multiplied in recent years. Robert Walters, a recruitment firm, reports that a 50 percent increase in jobs containing blockchain duties was seen this year in Asia. Developers are the most sought-after workers, with knowledge of the programming language Python the most chased after skill possessed by these developers that cryptocurrency startups are searching for.
To prove the legitimacy of the blockchain revolution, a research on job-hunt website LinkedIn revealed that most major companies have at least one position connected to the research of cryptocurrency. Companies such as IBM and Binance, a cryptocurrency trading website, have posted positions in connection to the blockchain.
However, CNBC reveals that the herd may be relatively thin in terms of experienced job seekers. Another search on LinkedIn-this time, from the side of job seekers-reveals, that there are many people becoming more interested in dealing with cryptocurrency. However, in the world of the blockchain, there are very few people which are experienced enough to be considered experts in their field.
That being said, with cryptocurrency becoming increasingly embraced even by the mainstream companies, China-and Asian counterparts Japan and South Korea-is looking closely at embracing it more and more. China, in contrast with other Asian companies, is increasingly looking for ways to use it in everyday transactions even while they are implementing policies for strict regulation of the cryptocurrency. It will be in line with their plans for their tech in the future.
Looking at the actions of the big companies, it appears that the future is becoming more certain. Blockchain may indeed become a widely accepted transaction one day.
