Agency says blockchain not outperforming existing technology
CANBERRA: After spending $700 000 Australian dollars investigating the industrial potential of blockchain, Australia’s Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) has determined that current versions of the tech are “interesting” but in no way better than other systems.
DTA Chief Digital Officer Peter Alexander reportedly told Senate Estimates on Tuesday:
“Blockchain is an interesting technology that would well worth being observed but without standardisation and a lot of work to come — for every use of blockchain you would consider today, there is a better technology — alternate databases, secure connections, standardised API engagement.”
He added that the tech is now, “kind of at the top of a hype cycle.”
Blockchain, a type of distributed database inspired by Bitcoin, has been the subject of much excitement in part because it can and has often been used to issue ICOs (initial coin offerings), which critics have argued are thinly-veiled securities.
Companies have raised billions by ICO while touting the “revolutionary” capacities of their blockchains, and broad public understanding of the tech has arguably lagged far behind marketing-induced exuberance.
But beneath the glorious futurist claims there have emerged, over the past year or so, quiet but persistent stories of rising skepticism regarding blockchain tech, including news that large corporate participants have been walking away from membership renewals at blockchain consortia like R3.
