GCR

Data continues to be a missing piece in the Blockchain industry. The Global Coin Research team have attempted to gather some data from various foreign as well as Chinese local sources to unveil some trends that are going on right now in China. Some of the texts are translated directly from the article on People’s Daily.

1. In China, government policy and investment prospect is correlated with blockchain popularity

According to Baidu search index, blockchain reached its peak popularity in January 2018 and then began to fall rapidly regarding public attention. Its demand increased again gradually in mid-February, reached a high point in early March, and then started to show a downward trend.

What we hypothesize is that the blockchain craze at the beginning of this year was related to the price surge of Bitcoin. The discussion during China’s Two Sessions in 2018 accounted for blockchain’s popularity in March. Due to the Chinese government’s reserved attitude regarding blockchain during China’s Two Sessions, blockchain gradually faded from public sight. In China, government policy and investment prospect determine whether blockchain will gain public attention.

2. Currently, most Blockchain participants now are middle-aged men

The Baidu Trend Index in July showed that people who take part in blockchain exchanges are mostly middle-aged, with 52 percent aged between 30 and 39 years old, 25 percent between 40 and 49 years old, and 16 percent between 20 and 29 years old. The total number of people, who are 50 years old and over or 19 years old and younger, accounts for seven percent. Regarding gender, 72 percent of participants are men, compared to 28 percent of women. In sum, middle-aged men are significant participants on the blockchain network.

3. China’s blockchain investment has also shown a trend of moving towards real-world applications.

According to statistics from Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT, domestic data source itjuzi.com), as of March 31, 2018, out of China’s blockchain projects that are currently in the venture round, 65 of them are related to the real economy, and 48 of them are associated with the financial industry. Also, as of March 2018, 64 percent of blockchain projects are in the early investment stage, 25 percent are in Series A funding round, nine percent are in strategic investment stage, and two percent has already completed Series B funding round. By looking at these international trends, we believe that blockchain should have more extensive and more profound connection with manufacturing as well as consumer industries in the following years.

According to statistics of the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System at the end of March 2018, 42 percent of “blockchain” companies in China were incorporated in this year, located mainly in Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Blockchain companies established in Guizhou this year accounted for 93 percent of all crypto companies in that province. Guangzhou accounted for 88%, Shandong accounted for 80%, and Zhejiang and Jiangsu accounted for 78% respectively.

4. Enterprises across countries remain cautious about investing in blockchain technology

In March and April 2018, Deloitte surveyed 1053 corporate executives from China, Canada, France, Germany, the United States, Britain, and Mexico. According to the survey, 39 percent of executives believe the biggest challenge facing blockchain investment is the regulatory issue (such as regulatory policies), and 37 percent of them think the biggest problem is the practicability of blockchain investment. Also, 35 percent of them mentioned security issues, 33 percent of them said the uncertain return on investment, and 28 percent of them said the lack of relevant technology or skills. Moreover, 22 percent of executives believe there is no urgent need to adopt the blockchain technology, 22 percent of them thinks that blockchain technology lacks innovation, and 20 percent of them believe the current technology is not fully developed yet.