This is a guest opinion post by Bob Crozier from Allianz Technology SE, where he is Chief Architect, Head of Enterprise Architecture and Head of Global Blockchain.
This year, 2021, was a tipping point for enterprise blockchain in the insurance space. Scaled products went into full production, delivering millions of Euros of value, either in cost savings or new revenue, for primary insurers.
As we turn the page on this year and look to 2022, I see several similarities to 2018, where cryptocurrencies were coming off the back of All Time Highs. We are in the middle of the peak NFT hype-cycle and the interest from colleagues not closely tied to the DLT space is evident once more.
Like in 2018, 2022 will be the year that serious players will get their head down and build. They will go off and quietly figure out the business value of digital assets and set about the process of bringing it to life in a real and meaningful manner.
Where the insurance world was in 2018, the asset management business is today. They will commit resources to properly understanding the technology and regulatory frameworks are changing to encourage the uptake and exploration of value. I believe the cycle to production will be shorter with the insurance products already deployed giving confidence that ‘the technology works’.
It is great that technology teams of financial services companies get it. However, the real change comes when the business leaders are convinced of the power of the technology in how it can solve their real problem patterns and can see those patterns replicated across their businesses.
Multiplying the advances outlined above, Central Banked Digital Currency (CBDC) exploration will continue at pace with some projects and cross border initiatives already delivering first insights and real measurable results. When CBDCs are combined with Digital Assets enabling Fiat settlement on ledger, then the space will begin to really heat up.
That work…
