The Evolution of Blockchain Technology: From Revolution to Integration

The launch of the Ethereum mainnet in 2015 marked the beginning of the smart contract era, opening up new horizons for blockchain technology beyond Bitcoin. Since then, blockchain has no longer been limited to serving as the distributed ledger technology underlying Bitcoin, but has carried greater expectations for decentralization and trusted collaboration.

The natural compatibility of Blockchain with the flow of funds has led traditional financial sectors to take the lead in focusing on and attempting to apply it to optimize processes such as fund settlement and clearing. A report from the World Economic Forum in 2015 showed that several well-known financial institutions expressed strong interest in blockchain technology, particularly exploring its application in the settlement process. By the end of 2017, numerous blockchain collaboration projects had emerged in various fields, covering aspects such as cross-border payments, education, food safety, identity verification, insurance, and shipping.

From 2017 to 2021, various industries experienced a wave of "Blockchain innovation frenzy." A survey conducted in 2018 showed that over 84% of the executives surveyed indicated that their companies had ventured into the blockchain field to some extent. However, these explorations were mostly focused on "permissioned ledgers," essentially using blockchain for data sharing and tracking within enterprises or among partners. However, due to the limitations of the existing digital infrastructure of enterprises and the lack of blockchain governance, the technological potential has been difficult to fully unleash.

As time goes by, people gradually realize that governance is not only the key to promoting the mature application of Blockchain but also a necessary condition. Multiple international reports indicate that for Blockchain to enter a mature stage, in addition to technological breakthroughs, there needs to be continuous efforts in non-technical aspects such as standardization and regulatory frameworks.

When "governance" becomes the main theme, the application path of Blockchain gradually shifts from the idealized notions of "revolution" and "disruption" to an "evolutionary integration" with existing systems. After 2021, people's focus on Blockchain has returned to the financial sector, specifically regarding "tokenization." Tokenization refers to the transformation of traditional assets into digital forms that are recorded and circulated on programmable platforms like Blockchain. Recent practices in tokenization emphasize introducing Blockchain based on the advantages of the existing financial system, while also focusing on compliance and risk control.

Over the past decade, although various industries have been keen to explore Blockchain for business innovation, most applications still revolve around "transparency" and "public ledger" and lack truly irreplaceable core functions. In many scenarios, Blockchain is more of a supplement to existing database technologies rather than a complete transformation. For instance, supply chain traceability, charitable donation records, and some government electronic invoicing systems often merely use Blockchain to enhance trust endorsement rather than fundamentally reshaping processes.

The development path of Blockchain often gives people a sense of "scratching an itch over the boot." No one denies its value as a technological innovation, but in many industries outside the gray market, Blockchain has not effectively met core needs, and many seemingly cutting-edge attempts inevitably fall into the trap of "innovation for the sake of innovation." To this day, although people's expectations for Blockchain have spread from finance to various industries, they ultimately return to finance—after all, people realize that finance may indeed be the area with the most practical demand and space for implementation for Blockchain.

In recent years, both the upcoming stablecoin legislation and the policy support for RWA tokenization indicate that certain regions are trying to find a balance between compliance and innovation to attract high-quality digital asset projects, consolidating their position as international financial hubs in offshore RMB, cross-border payments, and asset management. However, this direction also faces numerous challenges. Taking stablecoins as an example, the global market often presents a "winner takes all" pattern, with USD stablecoins dominating the retail trading and storage for a long time. For stablecoins in other regions to break through, they need clearer differentiated positioning and supporting ecosystem development to fully leverage their unique advantages as offshore financial centers.

As regulation gradually improves and pilot projects deepen, if the advantages of Blockchain can be organically combined with traditional financial systems under the premise of controllable risks, certain regions may still hope to occupy an important position in the global digital financial landscape, truly becoming a "bridge" and a "testbed". Whether Blockchain can break free from the predicament of "scratching an itch through the boot" still requires time for verification, but at least, the direction has become increasingly clear.