According to a newfeed item from Amazone news via Cryptohopper  tere has been a huge surge in blockchain related patents this year, many from Fortune 500 companies. The two largets contributor have been Alibaba and IBM. Read on:

2020 will certainly be remembered as a ‘turning point’ for a multitude of reasons. For the crypto and blockchain industry, 2020 so far has been the year of mass developments and widespread adoption. This week, another indicator points to blockchain’s future.  A recent report by Kisspatent reveals that the number of patents filed relating to blockchain technology is soaring in 2020. More importantly, the organizations applying for patents belong to Fortune 500 companies. 

Alibaba leads: The study indicates that e-commerce giant Alibaba is leading the way, with more than 1500 blockchain patents. IBM follows Alibaba in the number of filed blockchain patents this year, though Alibaba has filed 10 times the number of blockchain patents filed by IBM. Other corporations that have filed patents include Bank of America, Mastercard, Walmart, and NChain.

Key Findings

Utilizing Natural Processing Language and keyword analysis, Kisspatent’s report found that more blockchain patents were filed in the first half of 2020 than in all of 2019. More importantly, 2020’s patent filings more than tripled those filed in 2018.

Furthermore, the study shows that more than half of the patents belonged to the Fintech applications with blockchain technology. The second category of applications, with around 10% of patent filings, is decentralized business solutions leveraging the blockchain. 

Zoom out: The study notes that the companies filing blockchain patents do not only belong to the crypto and blockchain industry. Rather, a number of Fortune 500 companies have applied for patents leveraging different applications of blockchain.  

If that doesn't convince you that blockchain and the whole crypto scene is the future then nothing will. Time to get on board.