Despite the increasing adoption of the blockchain technology by different global industries, the deputy of the Russian Central Bank, Olga Skorobogatova, believes that the technology is still at its early stages of development hence not ‘mature’ enough for industrial-scale adoption.
The deputy governor, at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, said that the blockchain could be further developed to enhance its usage. Skorobogatova stated that aside from its use for cryptos like bitcoin and ethereum, the blockchain has not been applied on an industrial scale.
“In the world there is still no big industrial solution on distributed registers, except for bitcoins and even a part of crypto-currency. This is mainly due not to the fact that the technology is not mature enough, and it, by the way, is not mature enough – it still requires a lot of improvements both from the point of view security view, and in terms of scalability, ” said Skorobogatova during the discussion.
As reported by media outlet Prime, the deputy governor highlighted two of the major issues affecting blockchain which have hindered its implementation on an industrial scale – security and scalability. According to her, solutions need to be provided for these issues before the technology can handle industrial scale use.
To further bolster her points, Skorobogatova categorized the use of blockchain into two functionalities. The first category is the blockchain networks that were designed mainly for distributed remittance, a perfect example is the Ripple network, that could be used by financial institutions for payment processing. The second category is the blockchain networks that function as a smart contract, such as Hyperledger and Ethereum.
Skorobogatova stated that there would be a transition to resolve the industrial scale issue of the blockchain, but first, Russia and the global community would come to “a pragmatic understanding” to outline the areas for which blockchain technology is beneficial.
“Therefore, in this context, I think that in 2018 everyone, not only in Russia, in all countries, will pass under the theme of practical understanding, where we can, in what projects, and then on an industrial basis, this technology to use,” she added.
Indeed, Russia is a country that has a great love for cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. Earlier this week, it was reported that the country would be implementing new laws to regulate the cryptocurrency and blockchain industries.
Also this week it was announced that the country would test an officially regulated ICO using the Russian Central bank’s new regulatory sandbox.
