Blockchain and Cryptocurrency

Despite being relatively new, there is a lot of excitement and adoption around blockchain technology and one of blockchain’s most common use cases: cryptocurrency. We gathered three experts – Fisher College of Business Finance Professors Amin Shams, PhD, and Yufeng Wu, PhD, and Ohio Blockchain Council Founder and Executive Director Andrew Burchwell – to discuss the global adoption, implications and use cases of these technologies and what professionals and organizations should know about the field moving forward.

Current landscape

While often confused, blockchain and cryptocurrency are distinct technologies. Cryptocurrency is a digital currency and blockchain is a system that records transactions and maintains information across a network of peer-to-peer linked computers. Cryptocurrencies are built upon blockchain technology.

Since blockchain is used to store data, the use case for this technology extends beyond cryptocurrency, ranging from record-keeping, healthcare and government agencies to agriculture, supply chain management and banking.

Regulations and oversight of blockchain and cryptocurrencies vary throughout the world. European governments are proactively regulating cryptocurrency. There are even some developing nations who have adopted digital currencies as their main currency, increasing access to money in places where traditional banking is absent or corrupt. In contrast, there is a myriad of legal and regulatory challenges facing these technologies in the U.S., including foundational lines like the legal definition of cryptocurrency.

Looking forward

The consensus is that this is a “pivotal time” for blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies. The U.S. is lagging in innovation and retaining talent in these fields, partly because of a lack of interest and the perception that these technologies “only serve emerging economies.” As a result, we are seeing lots of innovation leaving the country. 

Ohio, the nation’s 7th largest economy, is emerging as a tech hub with recent investments from Intel, Microsoft, Google, Apple and Meta. The Ohio State University recently launched the Center for Software Innovation and Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business is home to the Center for Innovation Strategies. Ohio is well-positioned to become a hotbed of talent and innovation in many fields, including blockchain and cryptocurrency, in which millions of new jobs are expected to be needed in the coming years.

Blockchain and cryptocurrency will touch every industry in one way or another. Companies should start considering how these technologies might relate to or benefit their operations as the future of blockchain and crypto continues to unfold.