Blockchain Has a Long Way To Go in Winning Over Computer Professionals, Survey Says

It turns out that the people closest to computer technology are far from sold on blockchain and cryptocurrency. Some 80% of developers, data scientists, and engineers surveyed earlier this year indicated they are not using blockchain at all. Just 13% said they are using non-currency applications of the technology, while 4% are running cryptocurrency applications on it. Only 2.1% are accepting Bitcoin or other coins or tokens.

The results come from a wide-ranging survey of more than 88,000 persons in 179 countries by Stack Overflow, which operates a question-and-answer forum for computer professionals. Of these, more than 48,000 responded to the question about blockchain usage. “Developers in India are the most likely to say their organizations are using blockchain technology,” says the online report about the survey results.

Asked about their opinions regarding blockchain, the respondents yielded a decidedly mixed assessment. About one-third responded that the technology is a “passing fad” or “an irresponsible use of resources.” But 29% said blockchain is “useful across many domains and could change many aspects of our lives.”  Some 26% responded that blockchain could be useful for applications outside of currency, and 12% indicated it is useful in supporting decentralized currencies such as Bitcoin. This question drew responses from more than 60,000 professionals.

The more optimistic opinions tended to come from younger developers with less experience, the report says, while older respondents with more experience tended to dismiss blockchain as “an irresponsible use of resources.”

Stack Overflow’s survey was fielded between Jan. 23 and Feb. 14. Twenty-nine percent of the respondents live in North America.